New Jersey's Federally Qualified Health Centers to Celebrate National Health Center Week
Posted on: Wednesday, 2 August 2006, 21:00 CDT
PRINCETON JUNCTION, N.J., Aug. 2 /PRNewswire/ -- New Jersey's 21 Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), serving the communities of 19 counties, will celebrate National Health Center Week August 6-12, 2006. America's Health Centers "Celebrating Patient Voice and Community Choice" is the theme for National Health Center Week. The theme highlights the unique characteristic of Federally Qualified Health Centers -- they are a nationwide network of care, with each local health center owned and directed by the very people it serves. Thanks to the health center model, people in over 4,000 communities around the nation enjoy a true sense of "ownership" over their health care system. It is this "patient democracy" that drives community empowerment and makes health centers the focal point for a whole host of activities that serve the community and its people.
The public is invited to visit the centers and participate in the wide range of free and fun special events in celebration of National Health Center Week. "This observance comes at a time when more and more New Jerseyans are turning to our health centers for medical and preventive care, where no one is turned away regardless of insurance status or ability to pay," said Katherine Grant Davis, executive director of the New Jersey Primary Care Association (NJPCA). "Additionally, National Health Center Week provides the opportunity for the public to learn more about health center programs and what they do," she added.
The NJPCA is the trade association that oversees the work of the FQHCs in New Jersey, ensuring that they are doing their part to help New Jerseyans get quality and comprehensive health care. The centers have compiled a solid record of success for nearly 40 years of caring for the medically underserved. They have dramatically reduced health disparities and pioneered successes in treating chronic diseases such as diabetes and hypertension. In New Jersey, the number of individuals without health insurance continues to increase each year and now exceeds 1.3 million. In 2005, New Jersey's FQHCs served 322,134 patients and achieved over one million patient visits.
One of the goals of National Health Center Week is to direct attention to the ongoing efforts of the federal government to strengthen the health center infrastructure in order to serve more people. There are 44 million uninsured people in this nation and another 36 million who, although they may have health insurance, live in areas without doctors and basic health services. The President's Health Center Initiative calls upon the nation to double the capacity of health centers with 1,200 new and expanded health center sites by the end of fiscal year (FY) 2006.
NJPCA has enlisted a number of sponsors for the statewide celebration of National Health Center Week, including AmeriChoice, AMERIGROUP, Horizon NJ Health, University Health Plans, and Johnson & Johnson. Sponsoring organizations in collaboration with the health centers will conduct activities ranging from free screenings and health presentations to fun activities for kids such as clowns and mascots, and free giveaways to include back-to-school backpacks and water bottles. This year, for the first time, members of the Rutgers University basketball team will be on hand to read to kids in the pediatric area of several of our health centers during the weeklong celebration.
For information about where to find an activity at a health center, visit the National Health Center Week website at http://www.healthcenterweek.com/, or the New Jersey Primary Care Association at http://www.njpca.org/.
Contact: Leslie A. Morris
Phone: (609) 275-8886
New Jersey Primary Care Association
CONTACT: Leslie A. Morris, New Jersey Primary Care Association,+1-609-275-8886
Web site: http://www.njpca.org/http://www.healthcenterweek.com/
Source: PRNewswire
Related Articles
- Mom & Baby Mobile Health Centers Have Become Primary Care Providers Along the Gulf Coast
- Nation's First Eco-Friendly Mobile Health Van Launched by New Jersey Non-Profit Health Center
- Sage Software Volunteers Celebrate National Health Center Week at Community Health Centers Nationwide
- Community Health Centers Are Recognized During National Health Center Week
- CPCA Celebrates Achievement in Patient, Program Success at National Health Center Week 2007
- Sage Software Healthcare, Inc. To Celebrate National Health Center Week
- SSM St. Joseph Health Center Named National Leader in Heart Attack Care
- Connecticut Spotlights Community Health Centers During National Health Center Week to Help Residents Find Low-Cost Quality Health Care
- NJPCA: New Jersey's Federally Qualified Health Centers Alert Women to Heart Disease on National Wear Red Day
 |
 |
User Comments (0)
RSS Feeds