NACHC Conference to discuss primary care foundation in America under Affordable Care Act

Former Health and Health and Human Services Secretary Michael O. Leavitt will address a national conference of Community, Migrant and Homeless Health Center representatives scheduled to convene this week. The 2010 Community Health Institute (CHI) and EXPO, hosted by the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC), will take place in Dallas, TX, September 10-14^th. The conference brings together thousands of health center leaders, opinion-makers, policy experts, clinicians and consumers to dialogue on strengthening the primary care foundation in America under the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

“We recognize the important work of Community Health Centers for their role in providing quality, accessible, and affordable patient care as we strive to build a health care system equipped for the 21st century.”

Health centers have been the family doctor for 45 years in medically underserved rural and urban communities all over America. They are local, nonprofit, community-directed and federally-supported organizations that provide health care to 20 million people in 8,000 communities. President Barack Obama praised the mission and accomplishments of health centers in a recent Presidential Proclamation issued as part of National Health Center Week. The President noted, "[W]e recognize the important work of Community Health Centers for their role in providing quality, accessible, and affordable patient care as we strive to build a health care system equipped for the 21st century."

A key area of focus of the national conference will be the critical role of health centers in the landmark health reform law, which aims to expand the reach of health centers to 40 million patients and craft a more efficient health care delivery system that will lower cost and create more primary care options for consumers.

The national conference will also showcase nearly 200 companies exhibiting state-of-the-art products and services.