Bill Text: CA ACR118 | 2019-2020 | Regular Session | Chaptered

California Assembly Concurrent Resolution 118 (Prior Session Legislation)

Bill Title: National Health Center Week.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Passed) 2019-09-26 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Res. Chapter 171, Statutes of 2019. [ACR118 Detail]

Download: California-2019-ACR118-Chaptered.html

Assembly Concurrent Resolution No. 118

CHAPTER 171

Relative to National Health Center Week.

[ Filed with Secretary of State September 26, 2019. ]

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

ACR 118, Wicks. National Health Center Week.

This measure would proclaim the week of August 4 to August 10, 2019, as National Health Center Week, and would encourage Californians to take part in this week by visiting their local Health Center and celebrating the important partnership between California’s Health Centers and the communities they serve.

Fiscal Committee: NO

WHEREAS, For over 50 years, Community Health Centers have provided high-quality and affordable comprehensive primary and preventive health care in our nation’s underserved communities, and deliver value to, and have a significant impact on, America’s health care system; and

WHEREAS, As the country’s largest primary care network, Health Centers are the health care home for 28 million Americans in over 11,000 communities across the nation. One in 12 people in the United States receive their care in a community health center, and one out of 6 Californians are served by community health centers; and

WHEREAS, Health Centers are a critical element of the health system, serving a diverse population, including both rural and urban populations, and often provide the only accessible and dependable source of culturally competent primary care in their communities; and

WHEREAS, Every day, Health Centers develop new approaches to integrate a wide range of services beyond primary care, including oral health, vision, behavioral health, and pharmacy services, to meet the needs and challenges of their communities; and

WHEREAS, Health Centers are governed by patient-majority boards, thereby ensuring that the patients of each Health Center are engaged in their own health care decisions; and

WHEREAS, Health Centers are locally owned and operated small businesses that serve as critical economic engines, and Health Centers power local economies by generating $45.6 billion in economic impact in some of the country’s most economically deprived communities. That is more than $5 billion in California alone; and

WHEREAS, Health Centers nationally employ more than 220,000 people, including physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and certified nurse midwives who work as part of multidisciplinary clinical teams designed to treat the whole patient. In California, that equates to over 33,000 people employed by a Health Center; and

WHEREAS, The Health Center model continues to prove an effective means of overcoming barriers to health care access, including geography, income and insurance status, and this model improves health care outcomes and reduces health care system costs; and

WHEREAS, Health Centers reduce overall costs of care by helping manage patients’ chronic conditions, which keeps patients out of costlier health care settings, such as hospital emergency rooms; and

WHEREAS, Health Centers are on the front lines of emerging health care crises, providing access to care for our nation’s veterans, addressing the opioid epidemic, and responding to public health threats in the wake of natural disasters; and

WHEREAS, National Health Center Week offers the opportunity to recognize America’s nearly 1,400 health center organizations with over 11,000 service delivery sites, their dedicated staff, board members, patients, and all those responsible for their continued success and growth since the first health centers opened their doors more than 50 years ago. In California, there are 1,330 individual health center sites; and

WHEREAS, During National Health Center Week, we celebrate the legacy of America’s Health Centers, and their vital role in shaping the past, present, and future of America’s health care system; now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, the Senate thereof concurring, That the Legislature hereby proclaims the week of August 4 to August 10, 2019, as National Health Center Week, and encourages all Californians to take part in this week by visiting their local Health Center and celebrating the important partnership between California’s Health Centers and the communities they serve; and be it further

Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.