2020 Annual Report

A blue and green infographic which reads: 2020 Community Health Center Impact. Washington State's community health centers (CHCs) provide essential health care to patients, regardless of their income or ability to pay. At The Association, we support the work of our member health centers to make sure that everyone can access quality health care. We work to expand the reach of health centers and improve the health of the people they serve. In 2020, Washington's 27 community health centers served over 1.1 million patients. 2,880 patients received covid-19 vaccinations. Served 292,225 patients in a language other than English. 130,393 patients received Covid-19 diagnostic tests. Provided health care to 24,000 veterans. Served 597,491 medicaid patients. Provided over 800,000 dental care visits (more than 36,000) were virtual). Supported 93,689 visits from patients with mental health, substance use, or other behavioral disorders.

Each year, Washington Association for Community Health issues an annual report providing a recap of the major milestones and achievements our organization accomplished in the past year. For 2020, it was a year filled with both challenges and opportunities.

The COVID-19 pandemic brought unprecedented upheaval--magnifying the healthcare needs of our community and the demands on our community health centers. The pandemic also initially resulted in devastating financial losses to Washington's community health centers due to the suspension of dental care and other non-emergency services.

We found opportunities to work alongside our health centers through it all, serving as a conduit to policy makers, providing guidance on ever changing regulations, delivering technical assistance, and convening forums to share, learn, and encourage each other. I am proud of our ability for finding new ways to serve our members, including the launch of our podcast to deliver expert insight to time-crunched health center staff.

I hope you can take a moment to read our annual report or the breakout reports on our work to build capacity, support public policy and implementation, and convene community health centers, and reflect on what we were able to accomplish together.

In health,

Bob Marsalli, CEO