How to Celebrate National Health Center Week

Please join NAO in celebrating National Health Center Week. According to NAO CORE reporting, AHECs work with one-in-seven of the nation’s health centers. That means there is lots of opportunity to increase our engagement with health centers and National Health Center Week can be a starting point. Here are some simple ideas about how you can celebrate now as well as ideas about future celebrations…

WRITE
Write a letter or send a card to all of the health centers in your AHEC region. To find a list and contact info for your health centers, visit http://findahealthcenter.hrsa.gov/Search_HCC_byCounty.aspx. The National AHEC Organization encourages every AHEC to participate in a letter-writing campaign to every one of the health centers in your region. The mission of AHEC and the missions of our local health centers are tightly bound. We all are working to ensure access to care for our most vulnerable populations. To see a sample letter that you could use and personalize, click here.

VISIT
Your health centers may be celebrating National Health Center Week with an event. You can find posted events at http://www.healthcenterweek.org/join.html. If your local health center does not have an event posted on this site, give them a call or visit their website. You or one of your staff can drop by the event to say hello. If the health center is already your partner, say “thanks”. If the health center is not already partnering with you, you can meet them and begin a new relationship.

CALL
Call your local health center. Leave a message with the CEO and/or medical director. If you know them, it’s a personal gesture to remind them that you care and remember them on this special week. If you don’t know them, it’s an opportunity to invite them to get to know you. A call this week is the first step to an ongoing and fruitful partnership into the future.

POST
Dedicate space on your AHEC’s webpage to congratulate and thank you health centers in celebration of National Health Center Week. Send and email to your local health center with the link. Add links to some of the fact sheets about health centers that can be found at http://www.healthcenterweek.org/facts.html.

LEARN MORE
Use this opportunity to learn more about health centers. You can visit http://www.healthcenterweek.org/ and find fact sheets and other valuable information about health centers and National Health Center Week. Make it a point to let your local health centers know that you are learning more about them every day and would like to continue to grow your relationship with them.

The second week of August each year is dedicated to recognizing the service and contributions of Community, Migrant, Homeless and Public Housing Health Centers in providing access to affordable, high quality, cost-effective health care to medically vulnerable and underserved people in the U.S. This year's commemoration is special because 2010 also marks the 45th Anniversary of the creation of the Health Centers Program.

"Celebrating America's Health Centers: Turning the Vision into Reality" is our theme for National Health Center Week 2010. This theme highlights the 45 year record of Health Centers in providing affordable, high quality, cost-effective health care to all people, regardless of ability to pay. National Health Center Week 2010 also provides an opportunity to focus on the progress we have made towards fulfilling the goal of our "Access for All America" plan to provide a health care home to 30 million patients by 2015. Each year Health Center Week also sets aside three days to focus on special populations who are often left outside of the mainstream health care system. In 2010 we will observe Tuesday, August 10th as Health Care in Public Housing Day, followed by Health Care for the Homeless Day observed on Wednesday, August 11th, and Farmworker Health Day recognized on Thursday, August 12th.

America's Health Centers now serve over 20 million people (including 925,000 farmworkers and nearly 940,000 people who are homeless) in 7,000 communities in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Guam.

We invite you to join in a weeklong celebration, August 8th - 14th, to focus the public spotlight on America's Health Centers and their work to make sure that everyone who needs a health care home can have one at a health center.

PLAN
National Health Center Week is always the second week of August. Think about scheduling an hour on your calendar in May of 2011 to remind yourself to contact your local health centers to begin planning for the 2011 National Health Center Week celebrations. Some ideas for 2011 could be:

• Take students to visit your local health centers.
• Arrange for students to participate in health fairs at your local health centers.
• Disseminate information about National Health Center Week activities in your region.
• Dedicate space on your webpage to information about health centers and National Health Center Week
• Anything else you can think of!