More than 171,000 Vermonters – about one in four people in Vermont – obtain health care at federally funded community health centers. “Community health centers not only provide high-quality and affordable care where it’s needed and when it’s needed, they do it in a very cost-effective way,” said Sanders, the ranking member of the Senate subcommittee on primary health and a strong supporter of community health centers.

Sanders secured $11 billion in the Affordable Care Act to expand and operate community health centers across the country.  In late June, he introduced a bill with House Assistant Democratic Leader Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.) that would double the number of people health centers have the capacity to serve over the next ten years, from 25 million people today to 50 million people in 2028.

Thursday’s funding announcement came during “National Health Center Week.” In a letter sent to Vermont’s health centers earlier in the week, Sanders praised their critically important role of ensuring Vermonters have access to quality and affordable health care.  “Patients don’t have to choose between missing work and better health.  And because the care is affordable, they don’t have to choose between paying for food and paying for prescription medications,” Sanders wrote.

Community health centers provide a range of services, including preventative health care and screenings, pediatric care, mental health services, dental care, management of chronic illnesses like diabetes, heart disease and asthma, and access to low-cost prescription drugs. They accept patients with Medicare, Medicaid, military insurance, private insurance, and no insurance at all. Vermonters without insurance can pay on a sliding scale, according to their income.

The following federally qualified community health centers in Vermont received funds through this round of federal grants:

–          Battenkill Valley Health Center, $63,364

–          Community Health Centers of Burlington, $87,735

–          Community Health Centers of the Rutland Region, $111,325

–          Copley Professional Services Group, $45,500

–          Five-Town Health Alliance, $49,412

–          Gifford Health Care, $129,722

–          Little Rivers Health Care, $40,000

–          Northeast Washington County Community Health, $20,774

–          Northern Counties Health Care, $99,504

–          Richford Health Center, $90,752

–          Springfield Medical Care System, $78,163

To learn more about the funding, click here.