Community Health Centers: Responding to the quality and service challenges while expanding under the ACA

Erie Family Health Center delivers high-quality, culturally-sensitive, bilingual health care to more than 53,000 medical patients and 9,500 dental patients. Our community-based health care centers are portals to high-quality care – and a higher quality of life – regardless of a patient’s ability to pay. Since 1957, when the Erie Family Health Center was first established as a volunteer clinic by doctors from Northwestern Memorial Hospital, it has been our mission to consider health care a right, not a privilege. Today, Erie serves patients from 13 sites, including seven large primary care facilities (four with integrated, on-site dental care), five school-based health centers and the only freestanding comprehensive teen health provider in Chicagoland.  Quality care has always been at the forefront of Eries mission and the ACA has provided new opportunities and challenges that will be discussed.