Creating Jobs through Community Health Centers

A recent report from the Center for American Progress, The Importance of Community Health Centers: Engines of Economic Activity and Job Creation,  lifts up the role that community health centers play in job creation and stimulating the economy. By intent, community heath centers are located in lower income, medically underserved communities that are mostly in rural and inner-city neighborhoods. In addition to providing high quality health care services to communities, these health centers have also served as an engine of economic activity for the community.

For example, in 2009, with the $2 billion investment received through ARRA community health centers were able to generate an additional $3.2 billion in economic activity for their local communities. The Affordable Care Act provides community health centers with $9.5 billion in operating costs and 1.5 billion for new construction over the next five years to expand services for new patients. It is estimated that this new funding will generate $53.7 billion in economic activity ($33 billion directly attributed to ACA) for some of the most disadvantaged neighborhoods in the country over the next five years and nearly 500,000 jobs in these communities over that same time period.

For more information on this opportunity, please also visit the National Association of Community Health Centers.