Our Story

ACH launches with 14 founding members serving 1.3 million patients in six states and Puerto Rico. Amanda Pears Kelly is named CEO, and ACH makes its national debut with an exclusive announcement in POLITICO Pulse.

ACH hosts its inaugural policy planning meetings in Denver, CO with its board of directors, leaders from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Innovations (CMMI), Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA) and other strategic partners.

ACH’s Executive Committee meets with HRSA leadership to share key priorities, issues and opportunities, and discusses several issues that ultimately translate into policy proposals to advance and support ACH member needs.

ACH membership grows from 14 founding members to 20 in just a few months. ACH holds several discussions with Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Sevices (CMS) Office of Minority Health (OMH) on the adaptation of the Health Equity Summary Score for the FQHC setting. According to the Department of Health & Human Services (HHS), the Health Equity Summary Score is the most promising measurement tool for health equity, but it has only been validated in the insurance plan setting.

In partnership with the National Press Club, ACH hosts a media event with a panel of health center leaders to address the workforce shortage crisis and COVID-19.

CEO Amanda Pears Kelly speaks at CMMI’s public Roundtable “Safety Net Provider Participation in CMS Innovation Center Models.” CMS’ proposed reforms to the Medicare Shared Savings Program, released in June, reflect many of ACH’s recommendations.

ACH hosts its first Annual Member Meeting and Hill Day, attended by members and joined by key health policy leaders. ACH membership has grown to cover 12 states and serves nearly 2 million patients. To address member needs, ACH establishes Working Groups that focus on value-based care and the 340B program, respectively.

ACH launches its CHC Invest campaign and urges Congress to make historic investments in infrastructure, workforce, and innovation for health centers.

One of ACH’s founding members Dr. Parinda Khatri, CEO of Cherokee Health Systems in Tennessee, testifies before the Committee on Ways & Means regarding climate events and impacts on health centers, and what health centers need to become climate resilient.

ACH defends the 340B Drug Discount Program for health centers and announces its “340C” proposal, which creates a voluntary new provision under the 340B program to protect the ability of covered entities to benefit from program savings while submitting to additional commonsense accountability and transparency measures.

ACH, and its Value-Based Care Working Group, publishes a manuscript in Health Affairs on the topic of value-based care design and implementation FQHCs to be included in the Administration’s primary care discussions.

ACH’s team expands, hiring its first dedicated senior Policy & Government Affairs staff and launches its Programs and Engagement Department. ACH membership now has nearly 30 members representing 12 states and Puerto Rico and provides critical care to more than 2.3 million patients annually. 

ACH holds its second Annual Member Meeting and Hill Day. Featured speakers include Senate HELP Committee Chair Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Associate Administrator of the Bureau of Primary Health Care at HRSA Jim Macrae, Associate Administrator for the Bureau of Health Workforce Luis Padilla, Special Assistant to the President Catherine Oakar, and many other federal leaders.

ACH joins Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke (D-NY-09), ACH members Morris Heights Health Center and Sun River Health, and other community health advocates in New York during a press conference to announce the introduction of the Health Center Community Transformation Hub Act, HR 1072. ACH worked with Congresswoman Yvette Clarke to draft and advance this legislation and HR 1072 was introduced with seven original cosponsors.

CEO Amanda Pears Kelly testifies on behalf of health centers before the Senate HELP Committee in a hearing titled, “Community Health Centers: Saving Lives, Saving Money.”

ACH launches a multi-year plan in collaboration with UnitedHealthcare Community & State to empower health center leaders to drive change in their communities. This collaboration includes two initiatives: the Community Health Entrepreneur Challenge, a $500,000 grant opportunity exclusively available to five ACH members, and Leadership Peer Learning Collaboratives on the subject of value-based care and health center operations.

ACH hosts a “Fly In” to Capitol Hill, with members holding dozens of meetings with their Senators and Representatives about issues including the need for increased health center funding and helping health centers continue to benefit from the 340B Program. At this time, ACH also hosted a well-attended panel discussion on Capitol Hill on the need for bold investments in community health centers, titled “A Perfect Storm: Community Health Centers and the Fight to Protect Patient Care.”  That same week, ACH sent a stakeholder letter signed by 140 national, state, and local organizations urging Congressional leaders to champion increased funding for health centers.

ACH is proud to see that many of its recommendations are included in the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation’s (CMS Innovation Center) new Making Care Primary (MCP) Model. This model leverages community-based connections to address patients’ health needs and their health-related social needs and is the result of more than a year of conversations between the CMS Innovation Center, ACH, and health equity stakeholders across the country.

CEO Amanda Pears Kelly presents at the inaugural CMS Health Equity Conference. Her joint session with UnitedHealthCare Community & State titled “Improving Equity in the Workforce by Serving the Underserved” illustrates innovative programs that help improve recruitment, retention, wellness and equity of the health care workforce.

ACH sends a letter to Congress signed by more than 100 national, state, and local organizations in support of ACH’s 340c proposal and urges Congress to take immediate action for reform of the 340B Drug Discount Pricing Program.

ACH spearheads and sends a stakeholder letter signed by over 500 national, state, and local organizations urging Congress to meaningfully increase community health center funding. Its CHC Invest campaign receives significant inside-the-beltway media attention.

ACH welcomes its first Innovation member, a new membership type allowing growing community health centers with a shared commitment to innovation and health care transformation to join ACH. ACH membership reaches 35 members, 2.5 million patients served across 14 states plus DC and Puerto Rico.

ACH launches two learning collaboratives for members, in collaboration with UnitedHealthCare Community & State.

ACH commends the U.S. House of Representatives for coming to a bipartisan agreement and passing the Lower Costs, More Transparency Act (H.R. 5378) which contains a 10% increase for the Community Health Center Trust Fund to $4.4 billion a year for a two-year period, through the end of 2025. This is the first funding increase health centers have seen in over a decade, and ACH is hopeful that this represents a down payment on a longer-term funding solution that will ensure health centers have the resources necessary to address the growing needs in their communities.

ACH hosts a well-attended virtual press conference, in conjunction with the Association of Clinicians for the Underserved and the American Association of Teaching Health Centers, to address health care funding and the workforce crisis. Community health center leaders from across the country share the challenges their overstretched workforce is facing and urge leaders in Washington to take action to invest in immediate and long-term solutions as funding for the Community Health Center Program, National Health Service Corps (NHSC), and the Teaching Health Center Graduate Medical Education (THCGME) is set to expire March 8, 2024. 

After years of flat funding, ACH sees its advocacy come to fruition as bipartisan congressional leaders pass the first substantial increase in health center funding in years, a 10% increase in the Community Health Center Fund through the end of 2024. ACH has advocated tirelessly for a substantial increase that takes the needs of health centers into account. And while this increase isn’t all health centers need, it is a step in the right direction.

ACH also holds its 3rd Annual Member Meeting and Hill Day with speakers including Former Senator Roy Blunt (R-MO); Chair of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee Congressman Brett Guthrie (R-KY); former Senator John Breaux (D-LA); HRSA Administrator Carole Johnson; Principal Deputy Administrator & Chief Operating Officer at CMS Jonathan Blum, and more.

ACH launches a 340C campaign and white paper designed to address ongoing issues within the 340B Drug Discount Pricing Program and protect 340B funding for health centers. ACH also hosts a virtual meeting with over 130 attendees open to all community health centers and other stakeholders on the latest federal 340B policy and reform. For its outreach efforts this year, ACH receives significant national media attention for its policy messaging in CBS News, U.S. News & World Report, as well as Inside Health Policy, POLITICO, Modern Healthcare, The Hill, and Roll Call.

ACH and UnitedHealthcare announce a call for applications for the second round of funding for the Community Health Entrepreneur Challenge, making two $100,000 grants available to two health centers to invest in technology and effective patient care.

ACH holds a congressional briefing, in collaboration with the Bipartisan Rural Health Caucus and the Maternity Care Caucus, to educate members of Congress and staff on the pivotal role federally qualified health centers play in enhancing access to maternal health in rural and underserved communities. Representatives Robin Kelly (D-IL), Young Kim (R-CA), and Jill Tokuda (D-HI) present remarks on the value of health centers. ACH members Parinda Khatri, CEO of Cherokee Health Systems and Dan Prevost, CEO of Mariposa Community Health Center, as well as Louise McCarthy, CEO of the Community Clinic Association of Los Angeles County present the crucial and unique roles their health centers play in providing essential and life-saving care.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announces a new voluntary primary care model – the Making Care Primary (MCP) Model, a 10.5-year model that has the potential to result in significant cost savings for all community health centers across the network, allowing them to fulfill their mission as hyper-local health care hubs. This model culminates over a year of discussions between the CMS Innovation Center, ACH, and health equity stakeholders nationwide. ACH was pivotal in integrating health-related social needs and behavioral health into primary care.

During National Health Center Week, ACH announces that Tampa Family Health Centers (TFHC) President and Chief Executive Officer Sherry Hoback, MBA, BSN, RN has won its inaugural David B. Vliet Changemaker Award for her outstanding contributions to the Community Health Center (CHC) Program and advocacy on behalf of health center patients.

ACH co-sponsors a panel discussion on “Empowering Black Fathers to be Allies for Black Maternal Health” at the Congressional Black Caucus Annual Legislative Conference, shedding light on the critical role and experiences of Black fathers in community health.

ACH delivers a letter to Congressional leaders signed by over 550 national, state, and local organizations representing all 50 U.S. states and territories outlined the critical need for a robust funding increase for the CHCF, which is set to expire on December 31, 2024.