The Community HealthCare Association of the Dakotas (CHAD) believes the process of addressing primary care access issues should begin with the community. Local health care services benefit the community by improving the health of citizens and positively impacting economic development.
CHAD works with communities to improve health care access by supporting efforts to develop, expand, and sustain local services. Most of these efforts focus on the growth and development of federally-funded community health centers (CHCs).
CHCs play a vital role in the delivery of primary care services to many people throughout North and South Dakota, in particular, the underserved, uninsured and those who have no regular source of care.
By definition, CHCs are organizations who have received federal funding under Section 330 of the Public Health Services Act for providing care to general community populations, homeless populations, migrant/seasonal farmworkers, and residents of public housing complexes.
There are five essential elements that make community health centers different from other health care providers:
- Located in Medically Underserved Areas/Medically Underserved Populations
- Offer the required comprehensive primary health care and ancillary services
- Provide services to all patients within their service areas, with no one denied care for inability to pay
- Governed by community boards, composed of at least a majority (51% or more) of health center patients who represent the population served
- Non-profit or public agencies with a mission to provide health care to the medically underserved
For other detailed information on community health center development, the National Association of Community Health Centers has developed a manual entitled, “So You Want To Start A Health Center…? You may download a copy of the manual free of charge. The National Maternal and Child Oral Health Resource Center's Dental Clinic Manual is also available for review on-line.
For further information on the community health center program or to determine if the program is right for your organization, please review the following links or contact your local CHAD office in Bismarck, ND at (701) 221-9824 or in Sioux Falls, SD at (605) 357-1515.
