What is a Community Health Center?

Community Health Centers offer affordable, safety-net healthcare services and are the largest providers of primary care to the nation’s most vulnerable and medically underserved populations. Prevalent in both urban and rural settings, Community Health Centers are located in regions with high poverty rates and/or low numbers of private or non-profit health systems and hospitals.

As a Community Health Center, The Wright Center for Community Health falls under the national Federally Qualified Health Center umbrella as a Federally Qualified Health Center Look-Alike (FQLA). A hallmark of Community Health Centers and FQLAs is strong care coordination to deliver high-quality healthcare at a lower cost.

The Wright Center for Community Health operates on a fundamentally patient-centric model. We drive a high level of care coordination and focus on care transitions for the vulnerable communities we serve.

We overcome geographic, cultural, linguistic and other barriers to care by delivering coordinated and comprehensive primary and preventive services. This care reduces health disparities by emphasizing care management of patients with multiple healthcare needs and the use of key quality improvement practices, including health information technology.

The Wright Center is a community-based organization that offers essential primary and preventive care services to populations with limited access to health care. Services available range from basic doctor’s visits, immunizations, health screenings, dental and behavioral health and recovery services. 

Nationally, Community Health Centers frequently care for 16 million people at more than 6,000 locations. Of those served at health centers, 71 percent are below 100 percent of the federal poverty guidelines and 92 percent are below 200 percent. Forty percent are uninsured while 35 percent are enrolled in Medicaid or CHIP. Sixty percent are Hispanic, African-American or Native American and 35 percent are under the age of 20. 

Funding for health centers comes from a variety of public and private sources. According to the National Association of Community Health Centers, health centers receive half of their funds from state and local sources, such as Medicaid, state and local funds, and to a small extent, the children’s health insurance program. The remainder comes from private insurance, Medicare and patients themselves.