Connecticut’s 17 Community Health Centers Serve 450,000 People, Rank #5 Nationally in Quality

Despite the challenges facing them on the federal level – such as changing policies and executive orders from the Trump administration – several of the state’s community health centers (CHCs) are being nationally recognized for the services they provide to hundreds of thousands of patients. 

The federal Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) recently released its 2024 Community Health Quality Recognition (CHQR) data and Connecticut’s CHCs have ranked fifth in the country. 

There are 17 community health centers in the state, which together served more than 452,000 residents in 2024, said Deb Polun, chief strategy officer of the Community Health Center Association of CT. 

Deb Polun Credit: Contributed photo

“So it’s one out of every eight people in Connecticut getting care from a community health center,” Polun said.

These centers provide primary medical car, mental and behavioral health care and specialty care regardless of a patient’s ability to pay, she added.

“Essentially, it’s your doctor’s office, your dentist’s office, if you have a therapist. They’re usually in one building,” Polun said. 

Designated as such by the federal government, CHCs are nonprofit organizations and have a board of directors that, by federal law, include patients of the health center, making them truly community-driven, Polun said.

Connecticut also ranked third nationally when states were ranked based on health center performance across specific health domains such as maternal and child health, oral health, and diabetes care, Polun said. 

“A lot of people, I think, who know about community health centers, maybe they feel like, ‘oh, it’s sort of the place where you go if you can’t go anywhere else.’ And we’re really trying to reframe it as health centers are providers of choice,” Polun said. “That’s a place you would want to go. They really pay attention to their patients. They really use their staff and modern technology to stay up on the best way to provide healthcare. And obviously, you know, the returns are that they are providing better access, better quality, and in turn, their patients have great health outcomes.”

According to the HRSA’s website, the badges recognize achievements in access, quality, health information technology and health outcomes using its uniform data system, which compares information compiled from centers throughout the country such as health center patient characteristics, services provided, clinical processes, health outcomes, patients’ use of services, staffing, costs and revenues. 

For the specific badges, 12 of the CHCs received badges for advancing health information technology to improve quality. 

Polun said this refers to information patients see medical professionals input into their computers when they go to the doctor’s office. 

“And you may wonder, what are they doing with this?” Polun said. “So they can look at all of their patients that have diabetes and look at how many of them have their A1C under control. Are they getting the appropriate number of visits? They can look at all their patients who are pregnant and see. Did they get in within the first three months, which is critical for prenatal care. Are they getting their regular visits? When they deliver, is the baby a good size or is it low birth weight? That kind of thing. So those are some of the ways that they use their health information technology to improve their quality of care that they provide and the outcomes.”

Eight of the state CHCs received bronze, silver or gold badges. Waterbury’s StayWell Health Center received a Gold badge for providing “the best quality care compared with other health centers nationally.” 

Staywell, for example, screened 95 percent of its patients for depression, according to the data. 

Lastly, 7 of the state’s CHCs received national quality leader badges for meeting or exceeding national benchmarks. 

The national recognition comes as healthcare workers are facing many challenges such as confusing policies and questions about funding, Polun  said. 

“I would say there are a couple of fairly immediate concerns. And one is that we don’t have a federal budget for the fiscal year that starts on October 1,” Polun said. “And so the health centers do get grants from the federal government. That’s what allows them to see all people, regardless of ability to pay, because how else are they going to keep their doors open without these grants?”

Polun said patients come to CHCs regardless of whether they have insurance. 

“If you come in and you don’t have health insurance, they will see you and treat you on a sliding fee scale based on your income,” Polun said, adding that centers all have people on staff to help patients get enrolled in health insurance if that is what they want, including screening them for Medicaid. 

Executive orders and federal policy changes surrounding the issues of providing gender-affirming care and medical benefits for immigrants are also posing challenges for health care providers as well as potential changes to Medicaid due to the so-called One Big Beautiful Bill Act, according to Polun. 

“So, the general tenor is really the big concern right now,” Polun said. “A lot of people have been fearful of the actions that have happened in other parts of the country as well as Connecticut. So we are seeing some people call and say, can I switch this to a telehealth visit? I don’t really feel comfortable leaving my home right now. Or I’m afraid of leaving my kids.”

Polun said the CHCs are a space for people of all backgrounds to get all sorts of help, adding they have locations throughout the state. 

“They really pay attention to their patients,” she said. “They really use their staff and modern technology to stay up on the best way to provide healthcare.”