What is an FQHC?

What is an FQHC?

America’s Health Centers are Drivers of Health Equity

Since their inception in the 1960s, Community Health Centers have understood that where we live, work, worship and play affects our health, also known as the social drivers of health. Health centers are experts at reaching beyond the clinic walls to address the barriers to health and well-being their patients face.

Health centers have their roots in the Civil Rights Movement. The visionary community activists and reform-minded physicians who founded the earliest health centers believed that we could fight poverty and empower communities with health and opportunity. Today health equity remains a top priority for our country.

Community Health Centers' Crucial Role in Public Health

  • Health centers improve the health and well-being of underserved communities while empowering people to become actively involved in solving issues unique to their needs and communities.
  • Health centers are innovators, healers and problem solvers that reach beyond the walls of the conventional health care delivery system to prevent illness and address the social drivers that may cause poor health - diet, nutrition, mental illness, or homelessness.
  • The health center mission to promote health equity has become increasingly important in the fight against COVID-19 and other preventable diseases.
  • Health centers have been vital in protecting marginalized communities from COVID-19 - including communities of color and special populations .
  • Health centers work in partnership with health care payers, entire health care systems, the private sector, and the government on all levels to address and respond to the critical public health crises of our time, including:
    • Pandemics
    • Natural disasters and extreme weather events
    • The national opioid crisis
    • Maternal mortality and more
  • By mission and by law, health centers offer enabling services to assist patients with specific barriers to care, including:
    • Transportation
    • Translation
    • Food security
    • Accessing other social services
  • Studies show the quality care health centers deliver is as good or even better than what patients may experience visiting a private practice, yet the range of services found under one roof is also affordable.
  • Health center are partners in rebuilding the economy. Health centers produce over $85 billion in economic output in the communities where they operate.
  • Health centers employ well over 300,000 (270,000 full time employees) including many of our nation’s veterans.

How are FQHC's Funded?

Great Lakes Bay Health Centers is a Federally Qualified Health Center, and receives about 15 percent of its funding from a federal grant. This grant allows the organization to care for the 25 percent of its patients who are uninsured. Our 33 centers and sites serve residents in a 16-county region and beyond.

GLBHC is a 501C3 non-profit S corporation run by a patient majority board of directors, not a government agency. Funding for patient services primarily comes from reimbursement from insurance companies, mostly Medicaid. State and local grants, along with donations, allow the organization to provide special services that aren’t reimbursed, such as transportation. We are very thankful for all community support and partnerships!

Learn more about how Great Lakes Bay Health Centers is funded with this downloadable PDF.

This website is for a Health Center Program grantee under 42. U.S.C. 254b, and a deemed Public Health Service employee under 42 U.S.C. 233 (g) – (n). This organization is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under grant #H80CS00689 titled Health Center Cluster for $7,161,610 with about 88% funded with nongovernmental sources. This information or content and conclusions are those of Great Lakes Bay Health Centers and should not be construed as the official position or policy of, nor should any endorsements be inferred by HRSA, HHS or the U.S. Government. We are an equal opportunity provider and employer. GLBHC participates in the Federal program 340B Drug Pricing Program. All GLBHC patients may exercise his or her freedom to choose a pharmacy provider.

Copyright 2023, Great Lakes Bay Health Centers