For more than four decades, HRSA has helped fund, staff and support a national network of health clinics serving millions of people who otherwise would have little or no access to care.
HRSA's Primary Health Care Programs have their roots in the Migrant Health Act of 1962 and the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964, which established funding for the first community-based clinics that were to become today's Health Center Program. The National Hansenís Disease Program, formerly the National Leprosarium, was established in 1921. More recently, the Free Clinics Medical Malpractice Program was established in 2004.
Health Centers are community-based and patient-directed organizations that serve people with limited access to health care. These include low-income patients, the uninsured, those with limited English proficiency, migrant and seasonal farmworkers, individuals and families experiencing homelessness, and those living in public housing.
HRSA-supported clinics provide comprehensive, culturally competent, quality primary health care to a broadly diverse patient base that includes increasing numbers of veterans.
Services include pharmacy, mental health, substance abuse and oral health treatment, as well as supportive services (education, translation, transportation and case management) that promote access to health care and ensure patient well-being.
Health centers are required to be located in or serve a high-need community (a "medically underserved" area or population) ó and to make their services available to all patients on a sliding scale, with fees based on ability to pay. By law, health centers must be governed by community boards with majority patient representation.
Free clinics play a significant role in meeting the health care needs of the uninsured, particularly at a time when private physicians may be less likely to provide free care in their offices.
These clinics are typically small organizations with annual budgets of less than $250,000, making them less able to afford the growing cost of malpractice coverage for those clinicians who might otherwise be willing to donate their time.
The Free Clinics Program serves HRSA's overall policy aim of expanding treatment capacity for the disadvantaged by assuring health professional volunteers that they will be protected against medical malpractice claims. To date, over 2,800 health care providers have been given federal indemnity through the program.
The National Hansen's Disease Programs have been providing care and treatment for Hansen's Disease (leprosy) and related conditions since 1921.
The programs provide health care to those affected by the disease through three means of service delivery: at HRSA-run facilities in Louisiana; via a payment to a Hawaii impatient program; or at any of 11 regional outpatient clinics under contract to the agency.
The programs also support scientific research and training for health professionals at the world's largest and most comprehensive laboratory dedicated to Hansenís Disease.
The programs are the only dedicated source of expertise, treatment and continuing education on the disease in the United States.
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