[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 148 (Thursday, October 8, 2015)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1454]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




RECOGNIZING THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE NATION'S FIRST COMMUNITY HEALTH 
                                 CENTER

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. STEPHEN F. LYNCH

                            of massachusetts

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, October 8, 2015

  Mr. LYNCH. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize an outstanding 
landmark to community health and welfare. This year marks the 50th 
anniversary of the nation's Community Health Center program Community 
Health Centers (CHC) are the family doctor to over 23 million Americans 
and, as such, are the largest network of primary care providers in the 
country. The CHC model is distinguished by its comprehensive range of 
health services, recognizing the particular needs and characteristics 
of the communities they serve. Community Health Centers are located 
exclusively in medically-underserved areas, providing needed care for 
communities and populations that do not have adequate access to care. 
Community involvement in CHCs is guaranteed by the requirement that 
Federal Qualified Health Centers must have governing boards of 
directors that have patients of the center holding at least 51% of the 
board seats.
  In the 8th Congressional District of Massachusetts we are 
particularly proud because the nation's first community health center 
opened in December 1965 on Columbia Point in Boston's Dorchester 
neighborhood. Drs. Jack Geiger and Count Gibson of Tufts Medical School 
founded the Columbia Point Health Center in order to meet the needs of 
the residents of an isolated public housing project, cut off from the 
City's health resources. Drs. Geiger and Gibson opened a rural center 
shortly thereafter in the Delta region of Mississippi. From that start, 
the community health center program expanded throughout the country. In 
1985, Columbia Point Health Center joined with the Neponset Health 
Center to form Harbor Health Services, Inc. And in 1990, the Columbia 
Point Health Center moved into a new building and was renamed Geiger 
Gibson Community Health Center in honor of the founders of the national 
movement.
  Mr. Speaker, there are now over 1,270 community health centers 
providing services at 9,000 sites across the country. CHCs have become 
the primary source of medical, dental, behavioral health, substance 
abuse treatment, social services and other community health services 
for neighborhoods and rural communities that would otherwise be 
inadequately served. And CHCs have also provided employment and career 
opportunities for thousands of local residents.
  Mr. Speaker, fifty years ago it all began in Dorchester, 
Massachusetts. I am proud to rise today to recognize and honor what has 
become a national model for providing services to our country's 
underserved areas and urge my colleagues to join me in acknowledging 
the efforts of our Community Health Centers.

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