National Association of Community Health Centers leader fears closures | HLTH 2025

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Dr. Kyu Rhee is worried about closures in the wake of the tax package approved in the summer. But he sees the potential for a greater role for community health centers with the right support.

Las Vegas – Dr. Kyu Rhee says he’s gravely concerned about the pressures on community health centers, and the possibility that some may be forced to shut their doors.

Rhee, the president and CEO of the National Association for Community Health Centers, says the impact of the federal tax package approved this summer and looming cuts to Medicaid programs can’t be overstated. Based on estimates from the Congressional Budget Office, he says community health centers could lose $7.3 billion in revenue annually.

There’s the potential for 1,800 closed sites and as many as 34,000 lost jobs. And the closure of those sites and reduced services could contribute to 5,000 to 6,000 preventable deaths.

Rhee is blunt about the headwinds, but he’s not bleak.

“I think it's a moment of hope and concern for community health centers,” he tells Chief Healthcare Executive®.

“We are basically America's health centers, and in rural America, we are often the only source of care for hundreds of miles,” he says.

(See part of our conversation in this interview. The story continues below.)

Community health centers provide primary care and preventive services to underserved communities nationwide. The reduction of Medicaid funding places added pressures on community health centers. About half of their patients rely on Medicaid, and if some of those patients are no longer covered, community health centers are going to face tough choices.

Rhee says 42% of community health centers have less than 90 days of cash on hand.

Health centers are required to see everyone in their service areas, regardless of their ability to pay. So even uninsured patients are treated, and nearly one in five (18%) of the patients in community health centers are without insurance. The majority of patients are below the federal poverty line.

Still, he sees tremendous opportunity for community health centers in the future, with strong public and private support.

Community health centers touch the lives of more than 50 million people, or roughly one in seven Americans. But in 20 years, with better investments, community health centers could serve one in two Americans, Rhee says.

“There is no better part of the health system than community health centers,” Rhee says.

In an interview at the HLTH Conference, Rhee looks admiringly at paintings in a gallery celebrating the role of community health centers. Works come from community health centers around the country.

Community health centers were founded 60 years ago, created in 1965 under President Lyndon Johnson’s administration.

When Rhee started seeing patients in 2002, all of the nation’s community health centers were seeing about nine to 10 million people. The number of patients they’ve served has risen substantially in the past two decades.

Community health centers employ “a whole comprehensive team approach,” Rhee says. They include behavioral health teams, dentists and optometrists. They also tackle problems such as food insecurity, and community health centers work to employ local residents.

And he says community health centers employ innovative strategies to meet the needs of their service areas. Some community centers have gyms or basketball courts to give people places to get some exercise.

“The beauty of what we do is way beyond a clinical exam room,” he says. “We go into those broader drivers of health, the vital conditions that make sure people can get or stay healthy.”

Community health centers are required to have patient-led boards, which Rhee says helps provide better services.

“It keeps you grounded in that community, and in many ways, you're not necessarily driven by some headquarters that isn't directly connected to that community,” he says.

“We have trust at a time when there's, frankly, a trust deficit in our health system,” he says. “For 60 years, we build trust .. and we can't be acquired.”

The federal shutdown has also affected community health centers, due to the disruptions to telehealth programs.

Community health centers, especially in rural areas, utilize telehealth programs to reach patients. But federal waivers supporting telehealth and hospital-at-home programs lapsed when the short-term bill funding the federal government expired at the end of September. Rhee says that has posed problems for community health centers.

With the HLTH conference bringing together companies with cutting-edge technologies, Rhee says community health centers are ideal places to employ new digital tools.

“As you reflect on how you want to innovate,” he says, “Don't you want to innovate with a partner of choice like us, with the trust of the community that's already spread all across America, and that could help disseminate those innovative solutions that improve health outcomes, reduce costs and really make sure those communities are healthy?”

Even during a time of bitter political divides, community health centers have enjoyed support from Republicans and Democrats, Rhee says. He is optimistic about the prospects of community health centers, but he says that they need policymakers to recognize that they need some help.

“I strongly believe our innovation, our resilience, our bipartisan support, and the recognition that other parts of the health system know that we are the best value in the health system,” he says. “We're the most innovative part of the health system; we're the most resilient part of the health system. I have hope that we will continue to grow in the next 20 years, but I do have significant concerns.”

Read more: Mark Cuban on health care’s failings: ‘We are complicit’

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