Nevada Health Centers wins $486,667 grant

Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy G. Thompson on July 1 awarded Nevada Health Centers a $486,667 grant to make primary health care services available to more residents of Carson City, including many without healthinsurance.

The grant was one of 66 totaling more than $25.1 million to help existing health centers expand their capacity to deliver

services. The grants will enable health centers to serve an estimated 300,000 more Americans in rural and inner-city areas.

"Health centers like Nevada Health Centers are critical components of a strong health care safety net for all Americans,"

Thompson said.

"This grant moves the nation ever closer to President Bush's five-year goal of expanding by health center network services by 60 percent by year 2006."

Launched in 2002, the initiative will add 1,200 new and expanded health center sites and increase the number of patients served annually from just over 10 million in 2001 to more than 16 million by 2006.

Health centers deliver primary and preventive care to patients regardless of their ability to pay. Nearly 40 percent of all patients treated at health centers have no insurance coverage, and many others have inadequate coverage. Charges for health care services are set according to income, and fees are not collected from the poorest patients.

HHS' Health Resources and Services Administration manages the Consolidated Health Center Program, which funds a national network of community health centers, migrant health centers, health care for the homeless centers, and public housing primary care centers.

More information about the president's initiatives to help the uninsured is at .