LOS ANGELES – June 17, 2021 – CCALAC partnered with California Health Care Foundation to launch a series of reports that examines the financial challenges California’s FQHCs faced during the pandemic, how health centers adapted, and what policy changes are needed to stabilize FQHCs.
The first report, “Holding On: How California’s Health Centers Adapted Operations and Care for Patients During the Pandemic,” identifies the strategies FQHCs used to mitigate financial losses and continue to serve patients.
In the second report, “The Pandemic’s Financial Impact on California’s Community Health Centers: Largest Centers Suffer Significant Losses,” an evaluation of whether the size, number of sites, payer mix, service mix, or location may have created a differential financial impact on specific groups of centers reveals that the largest health centers experienced the biggest losses.
The final report “Risky Business: California Health Centers Weakened by the COVID-19 Pandemic Prepare for the Future” summarizes policy options that have the potential to improve FQHC stability, address health equity, and ensure access to a broader range of services in the long term.
A bonus report examines FQHCs’ operational and financial trends prior to 2020. While patient numbers grew, median health center financial performance weakened. The COVID-19 pandemic only exacerbated the financial challenges health centers were already facing – underscoring the need for policy solutions to stabilize FQHCs so they can continue to play their vital role in providing care to Californians with low incomes.
Access the full collection of reports here.
THE COMMUNITY CLINIC ASSOCIATION OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY (CCALAC) is the largest regional association of community clinics and health centers in California. Founded in 1994, CCALAC has 64 members that serve nearly 1.7 million patients throughout LA County. CCALAC is dedicated to serving and representing the interests of its member clinics as providers of quality health care, including medical, dental and pharmacy services. For more information about CCALAC, visit www.ccalac.org or call (213) 201-6500.
Contact: Taryn Burks – Communications Specialist, (213) 201-6529