[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 153 (Thursday, November 17, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2388-E2389]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




IN RECOGNITION OF THE 40TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE AMERICAN COMMUNITY HEALTH 
                            CENTER MOVEMENT

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. STEPHEN F. LYNCH

                            of massachusetts

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, November 17, 2005

  Mr. LYNCH. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in honor of the 40th Anniversary 
of the American Community Health Center Movement which began in 
Dorchester, Massachusetts in my home district with the founding of the 
Columbia Point Community Health Center in 1965.
  Development of health centers in the mid 1960s was fueled by the lack 
of primary care doctors practicing in urban and rural areas across the 
country. In 1961 more than 60 percent of Boston physicians had their 
offices located in hospitals. As a result, two Boston-based physician-
activists, H. Jack Geiger and Count Gibson of Tufts Medical School, 
were determined to address both the lack and nature of primary care in 
Boston's neighborhoods. Working with residents in the Columbia Point 
neighborhood of Dorchester, these pioneering physicians helped to 
organize a new community-based model of primary care. Today this site 
is known as the Geiger-Gibson Community Health Center and still 
provides over 6,000 residents of Harbor Point and Dorchester with 
access to world-class health care.

[[Page E2389]]

  Since the 1960s, community health centers have grown into the largest 
unified primary care network in the United States. Today, we have over 
1,000 community health centers nation-wide, with a total of 53 in 
Massachusetts alone. In my own district, I am honored to represent 12 
community health centers that ably serve the families of the Ninth 
Congressional District of Massachusetts.
  Mr. Speaker, community health centers are pioneers in working to 
reduce health disparities among racial minorities and in recognizing 
the primary socio-economic factors that help determine health status: 
the lack of educational and economic opportunity, and substandard 
housing. They continue this work today, serving 677,000 patients in 
Massachusetts and 15 million nationally.
  The community health center model was revolutionary in another aspect 
of its mission: community governance. The belief that community members 
could play a direct role in improving their life circumstances, 
including health status, was the basis of what we call the ``American 
Community Health Center Movement.'' The early health centers sprung 
from ``kitchen table discussions'' among mothers and fathers and 
community members about the need for primary care in their 
neighborhoods. In 2005, health center boards of directors continue to 
be driven by community members who use their local community health 
center.
  Mr. Speaker, today in this country, we have over 45 million 
individuals without any sort of health insurance living in both rural 
and urban areas; accordingly, we need Community Health Centers and the 
essential services they provide now more than ever. I ask that my 
Colleagues in the House of Representatives join me in congratulating 
the entire Community Health Center Movement on 40 years of helping to 
reduce health disparities among our most vulnerable populations through 
the provision of high quality, compassionate and cost-effective primary 
health care.

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