NEW YORK – RCHN Community Health Foundation (RCHN CHF), the only Foundation in the country devoted exclusively to community health centers, announced today its sponsorship of National Health IT Week, June 9-13, 2008. National Health IT Week is the leading forum for developing common ground to advance adoption of the health information technologies. The week is a broad-based partnership effort focused on achieving national healthcare transformation.

“RCHN Community Health Foundation is proud to sponsor this year’s National Health IT Week,” said Julio Bellber, President and CEO. “Community health centers anchor the health safety net for both urban and rural communities. It is essential that CHCs have access to HIT applications and services and to address their unique requirement and needs, and we are pleased to work with a host of private and public organizations to highlight the necessity of HIT adoption.”

Formed in 2005, RCHN CHF is a not-for-profit operating foundation whose goals are to help community health centers across the nation address primary challenges and to drive positive, sustainable change for the health center market – the local, non-profit, community-governed health care providers that serve as the health care home for more than 16 million people at nearly 6,000 sites.

While CHCs are the cornerstone for the delivery of high quality, comprehensive primary care, they have not been historically well positioned to acquire, implement and use HIT applications. RCHN CHF supports initiatives that address the unique clinical and operational challenges faced by CHCs. By working with National HIT Week Partners to advance the adoption of appropriate, relevant health information technologies, the Foundation hopes to position community health centers, and the patients they serve, to benefit from the transformational qualities of HIT.

RCHN CHF’s participation in National Health IT Week builds upon its well-established involvement with and commitment to ensuring quality HIT for CHCs. RCHN CHF is also a sponsor of the Capitol Hill Steering Committee on Telehealth and Healthcare Informatics and participated as a featured speaker earlier this year at a session focused on “Projects to Improve Access for Low Income Persons and the Uninsured: Safety Net Providers Step up To the Plate.”

A full list of National Health Information Week partners and a calendar of the week’s activities are available at www.healthITweek.org.