Health Professional Shortage Areas

Today, more than one in four Americans has two or more chronic conditions.

(Carolyn Clancy, M.D., director of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality)

Depression is three times more common for those who have had a heart attack than for others. Heart patients should be screened and treated for depression.

(Source: American Heart Association)

Community Health Centers are the family doctor and health care home for 16 million people in more than 5,000 communities in America.
source:  National Association of Community Health Centers, (2007)

Wisconsin health dropped to 17th in the U.S. for 2008. Why? High geographic disparity (12.7%), binge drinking (23.8% of people), obesity (25.3% of people), and low public health funding ($34 per person).
(Source: UnitedHealth Foundation)

The American Heart Association says add one hour of regular, vigorous physical activity to your day and you may gain up to two hours of life expectancy for that hour.
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The National Health Service Corps sends doctors, dentists, nurse practitioners and other care providers to communities without these providers. About half of the 4,000 NHSC clinicians work at Health Centers.
source: National Association of Community Health Centers, (2007)

The combination of quit smoking medications and counseling can double or triple a person's chance of quitting for good.

(The U.S. Public Health Service)

The first Health Centers opened 40 years ago. Two Tufts University doctors got a federal grant to open Centers in Boston and Mississippi.
source:  Shaping the Future From Our Past: Four Amazing Centuries of Innovation, Boston History & Innovation Collaborative, (2006)

Since 2001, as part of President Bush’s Health Center Expansion Initiative, Congress has increased funding for Health Centers. Today, 5 million more Americans in 900 communities have access to effective, affordable primary care.
source:  Health Services and Resources Administration