Today the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced a series of initiatives that will help over 900 community health centers and community-based organizations to enhance the quality and coordination of health care services across the country. A total of $47 million, made available by the Affordable Care Act (the health care law passed in 2010), was awarded in every state and will help improve quality and access to services for millions of Americans. They will also support better primary care and behavioral health services for people with mental and substance abuse disorders.

"These programs play a crucial role in the national effort to build high quality, comprehensive health care for those who need it most," said HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. "With these investments, health centers and other community-based organizations can expand on their efforts to ensure they are able to serve patients in their communities."

Both the HHS Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) are releasing awards today in an effort to better coordinate care across the health care spectrum. HRSA will be releasing $32 million to 904 community health centers nationwide. These resources will provide upfront assistance to existing health centers as they try to achieve recognition as a patient-centered medical home. Activities will include care planning, support for team-based models of service delivery, and system upgrades.

"We are excited to support our grantees as they transform their practices, coordinate care and partner with patients to achieve better health outcomes," said HRSA Administrator Mary Wakefield, Ph.D, R.N.

SAMHSA is announcing $15 million in grants to support and promote better primary care and behavioral health services for individuals with mental and substance use disorders. These grants are funded by the Affordable Care Act's Prevention and Public Health Fund to improve health status by improving the coordination of healthcare services delivered in publicly funded community-based behavioral health settings, including community mental health centers and public health departments in cities from Anchorage, Alaska to Norfolk, Virginia.

"These grants will make an enormous difference in delivering both behavioral health care and overall health services," said SAMHSA Administrator Pamela S. Hyde. "By providing effective routine health promotion activities, primary care screening, monitoring, treatment and

A list of grantees receiving Health Center Quality Improvement and Patient Centered Medical Home Supplemental Funding from HRSA is available at http://www.hrsa.gov/about/news/2011tables/110929medicalhome.html

A list of grantees receiving Primary and Behavioral Health Integration awards from SAMHSA is available at http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2011pres/09/samhsa_health_integration_awards.html

Of the 350 or more New Access Point grants expected to be awarded, only 67 were approved for HRSA funding because $600 million was cut from the federal budget. That money was set aside for Community Health Centers . Twenty of the 67 grants funded were awarded to organizations in California. New York received the next largest number of awards with 8. Georgia was awarded none. In fact, in the entire southeast, only 7 of 151 grant applications submitted were funded. To see the HRSA official announcement and find out which grants were approved and funded, log on to: http://www.hrsa.gov/about/news/2011tables/110809newaccesspoints.html.

Diana Allen, CEO of Primary Healthcare Centers, who has been leading the collaboration to bring affordable health care to low-income and uninsured individuals in Chattooga County was surprised and saddened by the announcement. "Primary Healthcare Centers and the wonderful people in Chattooga County have worked so hard over the past 3 years to establish a satellite community health center in the county. This is extremely upsetting to everyone. We understood there would be some priority given to those proposing to serve special populations-migrant workers, homeless individuals and other special populations-but generally the grant awards are more evenly distributed across geographic areas."

August 7th to August 14th 2011 is National Health Center Week. Locally, Walker County Sole Commissioner Bebe Heiskell and Dade Commissioner Robert Goff proclaimed it Primary Healthcare Center Week in those counties.

National Health Center Week is recognized every year to promote community health centers and remind people of the importance of maintaining their health. Primary Healthcare Centers is the only Federally Qualified Community Health Center in Northwest Georgia and the organization works hard every August to get the word out about the awareness week.

This year PHC is holding free health screening fairs at churches throughout NW Georgia for the month of August.

PHC is also celebrating 33 years of service to their service area. PHC is a non-profit, community-based health center that provides comprehensive primary and preventive health, dental and social services to medically underserved individuals and families regardless of their ability to pay. The health center strives to meet the unique health needs of its community in linguistically and culturally competent ways.

In addition to providing critically needed health care services, the health center is a powerful "economic engine" whose business operations significantly impact its community's economy.

-is a major employer in its community.

-provides direct employment for people in the community, including critical entry-level jobs, training, and career building opportunities that are community-based.

-purchases goods and services directly from local businesses, thereby stimulating the local economy through an infusion of health center spending.

-further stimulates the local economy through the indirect expenditures of related sectors and the induced expenditures of new household income generated by the direct and indirect effects.

-engages in capital development projects, often acting as a catalyst for significant economic revitalization within its community by attracting investment and other businesses to the community.

PHCC had the following economic impact :

- Injected $3.1 million of operating expenditures directly into the local economy and stimulated additional indirect and induced economic activity of $1.0 million.

- Had an overall economic impact of $4.1 million

- Directly generated 54 jobs

- Supported an additional 11 jobs in other industries.

For more information log on to phcc's website www.primaryhealthcarecenter.org or call 706-866-5520. *Prepared by Capital Link with MIG INC. ,National Association of Community Health Centers, IMPLAN Software Pro version 3.0, 2009 structural matrices, 2009 county-specific multiplier, and the health center's FY09 financial and employment information. Direct employment data was taken from IRS Form990, while additional employment data was generated by IMPLAN, based on the organization's FY09 operating expenditures.

Primary Healthcare Centers announced the forming of a partnership to designated areas. The partnership, which also includes the Georgia Campus of the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine (PCOM) Georgia Association for Primary Healthcare and lead agency Georgia Mountains pilot a Health Workforce Development program over the next three years in rural north Georgia.

The partnership received one of twenty grants funded from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Resources (HHS) and is the only network funded in Georgia.

Kathleen Sebelius stated that the long range objective of this project is to increase access to health care for Americans living in rural areas.

The Rural Health Workforce Development Program,development of rural health networks that seek to improve the recruitmentand retention of health professionals (primary and allied health care students and residents) in rural communities. It will promote a range of approaches to community-based training and can include a singular or collective focus on professions such as medicine, oral health, mental/behavioral health, nursing, pharmacy and other allied health professions.

"The grants will strengthen partnerships among rural health providers," said HRSA Administrator Dr. Mary Wakefield Ph.D., R.N. "Funds will be used to recruit and retain rural health care professionals and modernize the health care infrastructure in rural areas."

The North Georgia Rural Health Workforce Partnership will formalize clinical rotations of medical students from the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine to rural health centers operated by Primary Healthcare Centers and Georgia Mountains Health. Students will learn and experience the critical role health care professionals' play in the health, life, and economy of rural areas.

Diana Allen, Primary Healthcare Centers CEO, stated "We are thrilled and honored to be a part of this very important rural workforce development project in Georgia. Recruitment and Retention of health care providers is an ongoing challenge for community health centers in Georgia, and across the country. We believe this is a significant first step in provider training in rural communities in north Georgia and that, once these providers spend time at our community health centers and in our communities and learn all the advantages of living and working in a rural area, they will want to return."

Walker County Chamber of Commerce awarded Primary Health Care Center the 2009 Small Business of the Year award. Primary Health Care Center opened in Rossville, GA in March 2008 to provide pediatric and adult health care and general dentistry services to the citizens of Walker County and surrounding area.

Since March 2008 (21 months of operation), PHCC Rossville has served 4,273 medical and dental patients with 13,015 visits. The Center has worked diligently to accomplish outreach to the most vulnerable and underserved populations in the county-school age children, adults with chronic diseases, and the elderly.

Sixty one percent of patients served in Rossville have been low-income, uninsured individuals who were previously unable to access health care. Eighty three pereceent of all patients were at or below 200 percent of the Federal Poverty Level.

In addition, the Center has made a significant economic contribution to Walker County through the acquisition of $1,037,000 in grant funding the first year of operation; job creation for 14 full-time personnel, including a family practice physician, family nurse practitioner and general dentist; and through expenditures for services and supplies offered by other businesses and vendors in the county and surrounding area.

By collaborating with the Walker County government for the use of the old Rossville Health Department building, Primary Health Care Center's Rossville site has been a major success story by contribution of quality health care to the county's most vulnerable populations, generation of additional dollars brought into the county and creation of new jobs.

Welcome to the new Primary Health Care Center website. On this site you can find a variety of resources, including the services we offer, a staff directory and location contact information. If you need any more information please contact us at either of our listed locations.