Health Center Partners of Southern California President and Chief Executive Officer Sends Letter Calling on HHS Secretary Azar to Direct $8 Billion in Emergency Relief to Community Health Centers and Other Medicaid Providers During COVID-19 Response

SAN DIEGO, April 27, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Health Center Partners of Southern California President and Chief Executive Officer, Henry Tuttle, has called upon Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Alex Azar to direct emergency relief funding to Community Health Centers (CHCs) and other Medicaid providers to cover unreimbursed health care related expenses and lost revenues attributable to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"On behalf of our 16 member organizations, which serve 858,757 patients for 3.6 million visits each year, in 140 practice locations, in the three southernmost California counties of San Diego, Imperial, and Riverside, and the 29 million patients America's Community Health Centers serve, thank you for recognizing how desperately the health care delivery system is in need of additional resources.

"However, I must convey my great disappointment that there was no specific reference to Community Health Center (CHC) funding in the recently announced CARES Act Provider Relief Fund."  On April 19, $30 billion of the $50 billion from the Fund was distributed however it only benefitted local area Community Health Centers by $1 million.  Given this or similar distribution formula, these additional dollars are woefully insufficient to stem the current rate of loss at $241 million over the next six months, $1 billion for all California Community Health Centers over the next three months.

"I urgently request that with the next apportionment there be a specific fund for CHCs including Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), FQHC look-alikes, and community clinics. As you formulate guidance for allocation of the $75 billion added to the Public Health and Social Services Emergency Fund (PHSSEF) by the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act, I urgently request $8 billion of the new $75 billion be awarded to this Community Health Center fund."

Click here for the full letter to Sec. Azar.

Health Center Partners of Southern California, a family of companies, includes a 16-membership organization of Federally Qualified Health Centers, Indian Health Services Organizations, both urban and sovereign, and Planned Parenthood of the Pacific Southwest, collectively serving 858,757 patients each year, for 3.6 million patient visits each year, at 140 practice sites across San Diego, Riverside, Imperial counties, with the seventh largest provider group in the region. 2018/2019 Impact Report.

Media Contact:  Brad Fagan
619 542 4344; [email protected]

SOURCE Health Center Partners of Southern California; Health Quality Partners of Southern California