Community health centers provide care to 1 in 7 patients

One in seven Americans receives care from a community health center, underscoring the role these clinics play in ensuring access to care for low-income and traditionally underserved communities, according to the National Association of Community Health Centers.

"Serving more than 52.3 million people nationwide -- 1 in 7 Americans, including 1 in 3 in rural America -- CHCs continue to innovate, from pioneering new models of care to expanding behavioral health services, so that every person has access to quality care regardless of where you live," Kyu Rhee, M.D., president and CEO of NACHC, said in a press release.

NACHC used data from between 2023 and 2025 prepared by HealthEfficient, a health center-controlled network that provides support for 60 CHCs. The data refers to unique patient visits, which NACHC says provides a more longitudinal view of overall patient relationships with CHCs.

Community health centers are clinics that primarily serve low-income people, uninsured people, those living in rural areas and people otherwise traditionally underserved by the healthcare system. These clinics have operated since 1965 and aim to treat all patients regardless of their ability to pay.

The most recent NACHC figures represent an increase in the number of folks getting care from a health center. In 2024, one in 10 people got their primary care at a community health center, NACHC said in last year's report. Currently, 340,000 healthcare professionals work in one of the 1,526 CHCs located in 17,400 communities.

These numbers build on data recently published by HHS, which stated that health clinics funded by the Health Resources and Services Administration treated 32.7 million patients in 2025 alone. That’s up more than 350,000 patients from 2024 and is a historic high for the 61-year-old Health Center Program, HRSA and HHS said.

What's more, HRSA-funded health clinics have been instrumental in offering preventive care. More than 10 million patients were screened for colorectal, breast and cervical cancers at a HRSA-funded health center this year. Meanwhile, 713,000 patients received body mass index screening and follow-up; 126,000 achieved controlled diabetes; 163,000 achieved controlled hypertension; and 199,000 kids received a weight assessment and nutrition counseling.

"America's health centers are proving that prevention works," HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr, said in an agency press release. "They're helping deliver President Trump's vision to Make America Healthy Again by preventing chronic disease before it starts, expanding access to high-quality primary care, and putting patients -- not bureaucracy -- at the center of our health system. This record shows that when we invest in prevention and address the root causes of disease, we build a healthier, stronger America."

These victories come amidst a challenging history for health center funding.

Community health centers are paid for by two funds: a discretionary fund, which makes up about 30% of total federal funding and is replenished annually, and a mandatory fund, which comprises the remaining 70%. The mandatory fund is intended to be long-term.

NACHC has historically had to lobby hard for funding from a gridlocked Congress, but this year the fight seems to have cooled down. As part of the fiscal year 2027 HHS budget framework, the agency proposed the formation of the Administration for a Healthy America, which could come with a $19 million investment to expand access to nutrition services at health centers.

But NACHC is calling for a bigger funding increase designed to support innovation.

In particular, a $300 million funding increase from FY 2026 would help CHCs enhance their IT infrastructure, expand nutritional and behavioral health services and design "new access points," such as mobile health units, NACHC says.

Sara Heath is an executive editor at Xtelligent Healthcare Media, where she covers patient engagement, healthcare policy and health IT.