On Friday, March 27, 2020 the President of the United States signed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act, or CARES Act, into law. This unprecedented legislation will help secure the resources needed to keep Americans safe from the coronavirus. The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) is making these vital health center investments available immediately, as they are a key element of the nation’s public health response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The funding supports health centers’ ability to detect, prevent, diagnose, and treat COVID-19. The awards will also help maintain or increase health center capacity and staff for the emergent services within the health centers’ scope of work.
Crescent Community Health Center (Crescent) received a notice of award for $691,925 as part of their share of the $1.3 billion awarded by HHS to detect, prevent, diagnose and treat COVID-19.
“This award will enable Crescent to continue seeing our emergent patients during the COVID-19 crisis while investing more resources in Telehealth for all patients and actively participate in the collaborative community testing efforts currently under development,” said Gary Collins, Crescent Chief Executive Officer.
“HRSA-funded health centers are part of the backbone of our nation’s health care system, serving one in 12 people nationwide,” said HRSA Administrator Tom Engels. “Increasingly, people are turning to health centers for the first line of defense in combating emergency public health priorities like the novel coronavirus. Health centers will put these resources to immediate use to respond to emerging and evolving local needs and continue to deliver high quality primary health care services to their patients.”
HRSA funds nearly 1,400 health centers that operate in nearly 13,000 locations nationwide. Health centers deliver care to the nation’s most vulnerable individuals and families, including people experiencing homelessness, agricultural workers, residents of public housing and our nation’s veterans. Led by patient-majority boards, these health centers provide affordable, accessible, and quality primary health care to over 28 million people a year, regardless of their ability to pay.
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