La Crosse, WI- Today, Rep. Ron Kind joined the Wisconsin Delegation in urging Congressional leadership to include robust funding for Community Health Centers in the next COVID-19 relief package. Providing essential primary care services to individuals who may not otherwise have access to quality health care, Community Health Centers are critical to the well-being of rural communities across Wisconsin. Due to the spread of COVID-19, Community Health Centers across the nation are facing an economic crisis and have estimated that they need at least $7.6 billion in emergency funding in order to maintain operations and expand outreach in response to the pandemic. An analysis of Wisconsin Community Health Centers indicated that COVID-19 could cause a revenue loss of up to $205 million. Without emergency relief funding to mitigate the damages of revenue loss, Community Health Centers could be severely impacted.
“Community Health Centers (CHCs) provide access to essential health services for communities across Wisconsin and are on the front-lines of combating COVID-19,” said Rep. Ron Kind. “Throughout the ongoing pandemic, the health care professionals at CHCs have continued to work hard to serve their patients and provide a lifeline to Wisconsinites. It’s more important than ever to ensure that CHCs have the necessary funding to continue their critical work.”
Rep. Ron Kind is the co-chair of the House Rural Health Care Coalition and serves on the Ways and Means Health Subcommittee. He has previously supported legislation that funds Community Health Centers.
Read the bipartisan letter here.
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