[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 101 (Tuesday, June 14, 2022)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E614-E615]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




HONORING COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTER, INC. ON THE CELEBRATION OF THEIR 50TH 
                              ANNIVERSARY

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. ROSA L. DeLAURO

                             of connecticut

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 14, 2022

  Ms. DeLAURO. Madam Speaker, it gives me great pleasure to rise today 
to join all of those gathered in congratulating the Community Health 
Center, Inc. on their 50th anniversary. This is a remarkable milestone 
for this outstanding organization, and I am proud to recognize their 
invaluable contributions to our community.
  Health care is a right, not a privilege. It is a simple motto and the 
fundamental basis of the establishment of Community Health Center, Inc. 
Fifty years ago, a group of students from Wesleyan University joined 
with community activists in Middletown--drawn together through a shared 
vision for affordable, accessible and responsive health care--to create 
a free clinic to meet the needs of the community. Fueled by idealism 
and a deep belief that patients should be the cornerstone of whatever 
was created, the Community Health Center, Inc. was born. Today, five 
decades later, CHC is one of the largest Federally Qualified Health 
Centers in the nation, serving 145,000 people in Connecticut at more 
than 240 locations
  Other communities were inspired by CHC's ideas, and it has grown 
steadily, establishing clinics for the underserved throughout 
Connecticut, which provide comprehensive, team-based medical, dental, 
and behavioral health services. CHC also created school-based clinics 
and is now the largest school-based care provider in Connecticut, 
offering medical, dental and behavioral health care to children and 
making care more accessible for thousands of hard-working families.
  Home to the Weitzman Institute, an innovative center of research, 
education, and policy development, CHC has developed and implemented 
national training programs for Nurse Practitioners and Medical 
Assistants. CHC has also been a pioneer in telehealth, keeping its 
patients connected and healthy during the pandemic, and creating a 
company providing specialty e-consults for underserved patients.
  In 2020, as our nation faced the greatest health crisis in a 
generation, CHC got to work, providing care and distributing resources 
throughout the communities they serve. CHC provided one of the most 
comprehensive and innovative campaigns against Covid-19 in the country, 
creating testing and vaccination sites

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both at drive-through mass vaccine sites and at stores, malls, and 
places of worship. CHC's tireless efforts to equitably distribute the 
vaccine to all members of the community received national and 
international recognition, including from the White House.
  CHC's restless drive to innovate, dating back to the spirit of its 
founders in 1972, and its unwavering belief that healthcare is a right 
and not a privilege, has driven the organization's remarkable 
contributions in the last half century. I could not be more proud to 
join the Middletown community in celebrating this very special 
anniversary with the Community Health Center, Inc. Their outstanding 
dedication and commitment to ensuring, that everyone--regardless of 
circumstance--has access to affordable, quality health care serves as 
an example to us all. I am honored to extend my heartfelt 
congratulations and very best wishes to President and CEO, Mark 
Masselli, Margaret Flinter, Senior Vice President and Clinical 
Director, and the entire CHC family on this very special occasion. As 
we say in Italian--C'ent Anni.

                          ____________________