U.S. Health and Human Services Recognizes and Awards Local Community Health Centers for Providing Effective and High-quality Health Care Services

SAN DIEGO, Calif., Sept. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Twelve Health Center Partners of Southern California member health centers received more than $1.6 million from the U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) as recognition for providing effective and high-quality health care services. HHS, through the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), announced more than $117 million in Quality Improvement Awards to 1,318 federally qualified health centers (FQHCs) across all U.S. states, territories and the District of Columbia. HRSA provided these awards to celebrate the achievements in overall quality, efficiency, and value of the preventive and primary health care services provided by the nation's FQHCs.

"These quality improvement awards support health centers across the country in delivering care to nearly 30 million people, providing a convenient source of quality care that has grown even more important during the COVID-19 pandemic," said HHS Secretary Alex Azar. "These awards help ensure that all patients who visit a HRSA-funded health center continue to receive the highest quality of care, including access to COVID-19 testing and treatment."

Health Center Partners of Southern California (HCP) is proud to acknowledge its member health centers which placed among the nation's top performing FQHCs, as recognized by HRSA. Collectively, there were awarded more than $1.6 million to strengthen quality improvement activities and expand preventive and primary health care service delivery across Riverside, Imperial and San Diego Counties.

"These awards recognize the highest performing health centers nationwide as well as those health centers that have made significant quality improvement gains from the previous year," said HCP President and Chief Executive Officer, Henry N. Tuttle. "Our members deliver high quality, low cost, culturally and linguistically competent comprehensive preventive and primary health care to those living amongst us who are low-income, under- or uninsured or who face other obstacles to accessing health care. Since March, our FQHCs have been on the front lines responding to the COVID-19 public health emergency, including providing more than 50,000 COVID-19 tests."

Improving Quality of Care Awards recognized federally qualified health centers in these three categories:

• La Maestra Family Clinic and Imperial Beach Community Clinic were recognized as National Quality Leaders. Health centers that received this recognition ranked in the top 1-2% of all health centers in one or more clinical quality measures that promote behavioral health, diabetes health, and heart health in 2019.
• Health Center Quality Leaders were recognized for achieving the best overall clinical performance among all health centers. Awards this year went to San Ysidro Health Center, Neighborhood Healthcare, Vista Community Clinic, North County Health Services, La Maestra Family Clinic, San Diego Family Care, and Imperial Beach Community Clinic.
• Clinical Quality Improvers were health centers that demonstrated at least a 15% improvement for each clinical quality measure from 2018 to 2019. La Maestra Family Clinic, Community Health Systems Inc., San Diego Family Care, and San Diego American Indian Health Center were recognized in this category.

Other Quality Improvement Awardees were recognized for achievements in advancing health information technology (HIT), and/or sustaining certification as Patient Centered Medical Homes (PCMH).  Awards in these categories went to Borrego Health, Clinicas de Salud de Pueblo, and Samahan Health.

Top funding awardees included:

• La Maestra Family Clinic ($248,561), also recognized for HIT and PCMH.
• Neighborhood Healthcare ($246,505), also recognized for increasing the number of patients served, reducing health disparities, HIT, and PCMH.
• San Ysidro Health ($208,016), also recognized for HIT and PCMH.

Full list of FY 2020 Quality Improvement Awards Recipients

HRSA's Health Center Program

Health Center Partners of Southern California, a family of companies, includes a 16-membership organization of federally qualified health centers, Indian Health Services Organizations, both urban and sovereign, and Planned Parenthood of the Pacific Southwest, collectively serving 850,000+ patients each year, for 3.6 million patient visits each year, at 160 practice sites across San Diego, Riverside, Imperial counties, with the seventh largest provider group in the region. Read our award winning 2018/2019 Impact Report.

Media Contact:

Brad Fagan
619-542-4344
[email protected]

SOURCE Health Center Partners of Southern California

Related Links

http://www.hcpsocal.org