Just days into the Trump Administration’s new term, they imposed an unprecedented set of restrictions on the nation’s health network, ordering all federal agencies to block disbursement of grants and loans to programs providing direct aid to individuals, including the nation’s Federally Qualified Health Center network.
The pause in grant distributions represents a major halt to the flow of funds from programs that benefit more than 32 million Americans, including more than 400,000 Virginians, who rely on community health centers for vital, cost-efficient and life-saving care.
Community Health Centers are healthcare homes for many of America’s historically underserved communities, including 1.4 million people experiencing homelessness, 9.4 million children, over 400,000 veterans, and 3.8 million over 65. Additionally, both directly and indirectly, Community Health Centers employ more than 500,000 healthcare professionals and administrative staff.
For many of our Nation’s Community Health Centers, the freeze in federal funding will cause them to close their doors – almost immediately – leaving millions without healthcare and representing a serious public health risk as threats like avian flu and other deadly diseases continues to rise.
Virginia Community Healthcare Association calls on the Trump Administration, including Acting Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Dorothy Fink, and Congress to lift this freeze in funding immediately to ensure communities across America continue to have access to life-saving preventive and primary care services.
