Three Community Health Centers — in Ossining, Peekskill, and Spring Valley — will receive funding to expand their COVID-19 vaccination and treatment operations
Today, Congressman Mondaire Jones (D-NY) announced that three Community Health Centers across Westchester and Rockland will receive a total of $73 million in funding from the American Rescue Plan, the $1.9 trillion COVID relief legislation that Congressman Jones helped pass earlier this month, to expand their COVID-19 vaccination and treatment operations. The funding is part of the American Rescue Plan’s investments to expand access to vaccines in underserved communities.
Westchester- and Rockland-based federal community health centers receiving funds:
- Sun River Health (Formerly Hudson River Healthcare, Inc.), (Peekskill, NY): $46,878,250
- Open Door Family Medical Center, Inc. (Ossining, NY): $14,400,875
- Refuah Health Center, Inc. (Spring Valley, NY): $11,808,625
Community health centers (CHCs) provide comprehensive primary care and public health services for low-income, uninsured, and underinsured communities throughout the United States. According to the National Association of Community Health Centers, CHCs currently serve approximately 28 million patients nationwide and save the U.S. health care system more than $24 billion annually by eliminating waste and excess costs.
“I am proud to have brought these much-needed funds home to Westchester and Rockland. Throughout the past year, our community health centers have gone above and beyond to keep the people of Westchester and Rockland safe and healthy,” said Congressman Jones. “Our health centers have been on the front lines of this crisis in our communities, and are well-suited to reach many of our most marginalized neighbors. As vaccination efforts ramp up throughout our district and across the country, we must ensure that everyone can get the vaccine. By providing $6 billion for our community health centers, the American Rescue Plan puts us on a pathway toward a recovery that is truly equitable for all.”
“Community Health Centers across the country have been on the front line of response since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, from testing through vaccination,” said Anne Kauffman Nolon, CEO of Sun River Health (formerly Hudson River Health Care). “We thank Representative Jones for his leadership and support during this challenging time to continue to invest in Sun River Health and the communities we serve, who have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic.”
“We are extremely grateful to Congressman Jones for his commitment to President Biden’s American Rescue Plan, which supports FQHCs like Open Door in their efforts to mitigate the spread of Covid-19 in underserved and low-income communities,” said Lindsay Farrell, President and CEO of Open Door Family Medical Center. “These resources will be extremely helpful with our Covid-19 care capacity including testing and vaccine administration. We hope to continue to be highly accessible to people who need us, especially people with low incomes or those who lack insurance. We are a multi-cultural organization and we speak Spanish and recognize how important it is to be a trusted medical provider in times like these.”
“Relief funding through the American Rescue Plan comes at a pivotal time for federally qualified health centers at the frontline of the pandemic,” said Alexandra Khorover, Chief Strategic Officer of RefuahHealth. “Since the very onset of the pandemic, community health centers, like RefuahHealth, have committed our resources to test, treat, and vaccinate high-risk communities. With this new HHS funding, RefuahHealth will be working to enhance these efforts to bring compassionate care to all individuals and families in Rockland County impacted by COVID-19.”
The health centers can use the funding to expand COVID-19 vaccinations, testing and treatment for vulnerable populations; deliver preventive and primary health care services to people at higher risk for COVID-19; and expand health centers’ operational capacity during the pandemic and beyond, including modifying and improving physical infrastructure and adding mobile units.
