The nation’s community health centers have long played a crucial role as public health first responders, but never have they been asked to serve on such a large scale. One year into the COVID-19 pandemic, the webinar addressed how the COVID-19 emergency affected community health centers and explored the crucial role played by health centers in achieving the goal of health equity in emergency response – a role so central, that the Biden administration immediately identified community health centers as essential to its sweeping American Rescue Plan (ARP). Presenters discussed what the data tell us about the impact of the pandemic on community health center operations, staffing and finances, and the indispensable role of community health centers in the hardest-hit and most at-risk communities in providing COVID-19 testing, treatment, and vaccinations. Presenters also discussed the ARP’s investment in both people and the health care safety net, along with the implications for health centers as full-scale implementation moves forward.

The webcast featured policy experts Sara Rosenbaum, Peter Shin and Jessica Sharac from the Geiger Gibson Program in Community Health Policy, Milken Institute School of Public Health at the George Washington University.

Live program aired April 27, 2021.

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