Full Text of HR0112 102nd General Assembly
HR0112 102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, For over 50 years, community health centers have | 3 | | provided high-quality, affordable, comprehensive primary and | 4 | | preventive health care in our nation's underserved | 5 | | communities, delivering value to and having a significant | 6 | | impact on America's health care system; and
| 7 | | WHEREAS, As the country's largest primary care network, | 8 | | community health centers are the health care home for 30 | 9 | | million Americans in over 14,000 communities across the | 10 | | nation; one in every 12 people in the United States gets their | 11 | | care in a community health center; and
| 12 | | WHEREAS, Over 40 organizations in Illinois operate | 13 | | community health centers at over 400 sites in communities | 14 | | across the State, providing services for nearly 5,000,000 | 15 | | patient visits annually; and | 16 | | WHEREAS, Community health centers are a critical element | 17 | | of the health system, serving both rural and urban communities | 18 | | and often providing the only accessible and dependable source | 19 | | of primary care in their communities; nationwide, community | 20 | | health centers serve one in every five residents of rural | 21 | | areas; and |
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, In Illinois, over one quarter of organizations | 2 | | operating as community health centers serve rural patients; | 3 | | and | 4 | | WHEREAS, Community health centers serve as beacons of | 5 | | essential resources and support in testing and treatment in | 6 | | the face of the global coronavirus pandemic and will continue | 7 | | to offer reliable, affordable, high-quality care against | 8 | | COVID-19 for America's most vulnerable and underserved | 9 | | communities; and | 10 | | WHEREAS, Every day, community health centers develop new | 11 | | approaches to integrating a wide range of services beyond | 12 | | primary care, including oral health, vision, behavioral | 13 | | health, and pharmacy services, to meet the needs and | 14 | | challenges of their communities; and | 15 | | WHEREAS, Community health centers are governed by | 16 | | patient-majority boards, ensuring that the patients of each | 17 | | health center are engaged in their own health care decisions; | 18 | | and | 19 | | WHEREAS, Community health centers are locally owned and | 20 | | operated small businesses that serve as critical economic | 21 | | engines, helping to power local economies by generating $54.6 | 22 | | billion in economic activity in some of the country's most |
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| 1 | | economically-deprived communities; and | 2 | | WHEREAS, Every dollar in investment in community health | 3 | | centers in Illinois generates $5.21 in economic activity, and | 4 | | community health centers in Illinois generate over $2.4 | 5 | | billion in total economic activity; and | 6 | | WHEREAS, Nationally, community health centers employ more | 7 | | than 236,000 people, including physicians, nurse | 8 | | practitioners, physician assistants, and certified nurse | 9 | | midwives who work as part of multi-disciplinary clinical teams | 10 | | designed to treat the whole patient; and | 11 | | WHEREAS, Community health centers in Illinois employ | 12 | | nearly 10,000 health care professionals, including physicians, | 13 | | physician assistants, nurse practitioners, dentists, dental | 14 | | hygienists, behavioral health specialists, pharmacists, and | 15 | | eye care specialists; and | 16 | | WHEREAS, The community health center model continues to | 17 | | prove an effective means of overcoming barriers to healthcare | 18 | | access, including geography, income, and insurance status, | 19 | | improving health care outcomes and reducing health care system | 20 | | costs; and | 21 | | WHEREAS, Community health centers reduce overall costs of |
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| 1 | | care by helping manage patients' chronic conditions, which | 2 | | keeps them out of costlier health care settings like hospital | 3 | | emergency rooms; and
| 4 | | WHEREAS, Community health centers are on the front lines | 5 | | of emerging health care crises, providing access to care for | 6 | | our nation's veterans, addressing the opioid epidemic, and | 7 | | responding to public health threats in the wake of natural | 8 | | disasters; and
| 9 | | WHEREAS, Community Health Center Week offers the | 10 | | opportunity to celebrate America's over 1,400 health center | 11 | | organizations with over 12,000 service delivery sites, | 12 | | Illinois's over 40 health center organizations with over 400 | 13 | | service delivery sites, their dedicated staff, board members, | 14 | | patients, and all those responsible for their continued | 15 | | success and growth since the first health centers opened their | 16 | | doors more than 50 years ago; and
| 17 | | WHEREAS, During Community Health Center Week, we celebrate | 18 | | the legacy of America's community health centers and their | 19 | | vital role in shaping the past, present, and future of | 20 | | America's health care system; therefore, be it
| 21 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | 22 | | HUNDRED SECOND GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that |
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| 1 | | we declare August 9-15, 2021 as Community Health Center Week | 2 | | in the State of Illinois; and be it further | 3 | | RESOLVED, That we encourage all Americans to take part in | 4 | | this week by visiting their local health center and | 5 | | celebrating the important partnership between America's | 6 | | community health centers and the communities they serve; and | 7 | | be it further | 8 | | RESOLVED, That we will work to ensure that every | 9 | | underserved and under-resourced community shall have | 10 | | sustainable access to a community health center and a | 11 | | community hospital to address their health needs in an effort | 12 | | to improve health outcomes; and be it further
| 13 | | RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be | 14 | | presented to the Illinois Primary Health Care Association and | 15 | | the National Association of Community Health Centers.
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