Health Center Workforce

Funding is Vital for Modernization of Community Health Centers and Their Primary Care Workforce

Follow the “Record Now” link to create your Gather Voices video! It’s easy, and you can redo the recording until you’re satisfied with the result.

Social Media Posts & Graphics

After recording, you will be sent a link to review and download the video. From that point, you can publish your video on social media platforms like Twitter/X. Sample posts and graphics are included below.
You’re encouraged to customize posts with your own story, state/district-level CHC statistics, and/or THCGME facts.
Remember to @tag your elected officials to remind them of the innovative workforce programs strengthening health centers and your community! Their social media handles can be found on our Engaging Elected Officials page.
Tag us @NACHC, your health center, your PCA, and use the hashtag #ValueCHCs so we can all amplify your message!

for CEOs, C-Suite, board members:

Health centers serve over [###] patients in [State/District], and over 60% of [State/District] CHC patients live below the federal poverty line. The THCGME program is training the primary care providers that do this important work!!#ValueCHCs

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Health centers serve over [##] patients in [State/District], and over 60% of [State/District] CHC patients live below the federal poverty line. @[MemberOfCongress], please vote to increase funding for CHCs & essential workforce programs like THCGME & the NHSC! #ValueCHCs

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for directors of departments, other health center staff:

At my Community Health Center, the Teaching Health Centers (THCGME) program helps train the next generation of [family medicine physicians/dentists/psychiatrists/primary care providers], addressing the severe workforce shortage and ensuring we can serve more patients in our high-need community. #ValueCHCs

Send this Tweet

More than 50% of Teaching Health Centers (THCGME) graduates go on to practice in a medically underserved or rural area, compared with <25% of traditional graduates. @[MemberOfCongress], please pass stable, long-term funding so this program can continue! #ValueCHCs

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for residents in training of the THCGME program:

As a [family medicine physician/dentist/psychiatrist/primary care provider] in [Location], I see how patients here benefit from the Teaching Health Centers (THCGME) program. @[MemberOfCongress], we need bipartisan action to extend & increase our funding to provide long-term stability to this program! #ValueCHCs

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The Teaching Health Centers (THCGME) 👩‍🎓 program bolsters the healthcare workforce while encouraging investment in medically underserved communities. 💪 Healthy nation = 💲 funding for trusted care providers #ValueCHCs

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Workforce Talking Points

Action is Needed to Extend Proven Primary Care Workforce Programs

The National Health Service Corps (NHSC) and Teaching Health Center Graduate Medical Education (THCGME) program are essential to recruiting, training, and retaining primary care, dental & mental health providers at Community Health Centers.
- Through scholarships and loan repayment programs that require service-commitments, NHSC supports more than 18,000 providers at more than 8,400 community care sites, serving more than 19 million patients.
  - 80% of NHSC alumni keep working in underserved areas even after finishing their service commitment.
- At 81 programs in 24 states, THCGME supports the training of over 1,000 medical and dental residents.
  - 82% of Teaching Health Center graduates remain in primary care compared to 23% of other GME programs (such as Medicare GME)
- Another 93 THC Planning & Development grantees are preparing to launch residency programs at Community Health Centers if THC funding is increased.

Congress must support bipartisan efforts for maximal funding for critical workforce programs in any health

package later this year.

There is bipartisan support in both the House and Senate for increases to primary care workforce programs:
- H.R.5378, the Lower Costs More Transparency Act, passed the House by a vote of 320-71. The bill includes a 13% increase for NHSC funding and gradually increases THCGME funding to $300 million per year over seven years.
- S.2840, the Bipartisan Primary Care & Health Workforce Act, was advanced by the HELP Committee 14 to 7 in Sep 2023. The bill would more than triple NHSC funding and immediately increase THC funding to $300 million per year for 5 years.

Teaching Health Centers, their residents, and the patients who rely on them need funding certainty to support tomorrow’s primary care workforce.

HRSA projects a shortage of more than 35,000 primary care physicians in 2035, with especially acute shortages in rural areas.
Since 2010, more than 2,000 new primary care physicians and dentists have completed THCGME residencies and entered the primary care workforce.

Additional funding for the NHSC and THCGME will allow these successful programs to recruit more primary care providers committing to practicing in underserved communities.
- Research shows that 100 million Americans do not have access to cost-effective primary care, and investments in the workforce are essential to closing that gap.

Support Bipartisan Legislation to Bolster the Allied Health Workforce

The bipartisan Health Care Workforce Innovation Act (H.R. 7307, introduced by Reps. Molinaro (R-NY) and Craig (D-MN), and S. 4957, introduced by Senators Wyden (D-OR), Blackburn (R-TN) and Luján (D-NM)), would provide federal support for health center-led workforce development partnerships with high schools and community colleges. This investment would create opportunities to train medical and dental assistants, pharmacy technicians, community health workers, peer support specialists, and other allied health professionals.
- This bill authorizes HRSA to issue grants to establish or expand partnerships between Community Health Centers, high schools, vocational-technical schools, community colleges, and Area Health Education Centers.
- Grants can also be used to develop preceptorship training-to-practice models for medical, behavioral, and oral healthcare professionals in integrated community-driven settings, such as CHCs.
- Additionally, new and existing healthcare career laddering programs could be supported, incentivizing young people to enter and stay in the field long-term and alleviating workforce shortages.
Allied health professionals are essential to providing cost-effective, team-based care primary care effectively.
- However, without dedicated federal support, Community Health Centers find it difficult to recruit and retain these highly sought-after professionals.
Health centers are drivers of economic opportunity in underserved and rural communities across the country and in our district/state.
- In 2023, the 310,000 full time health center employees delivered team-based primary care that improves outcomes and reduces long-term health costs.

Health Center Workforce

Funding is Vital for Modernization of Community Health Centers and Their Primary Care Workforce

Workforce Policy Paper (December 2024)

Factsheet: Health Care Workforce Innovation Act (H.R. 7307 / S. 4957)