SHAHEEN ANNOUNCES MORE THAN $4.9 MILLION FOR AVIS GOODWIN COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTER, $2.1 MILLION FOR LAMPREY HEALTH CARE

(Washington, D.C.)-U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen today announced that Avis Goodwin Community Health Center has been awarded $4,957,300 and Lamprey Health Care has been awarded $2,150,250 by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) for construction and facility investment. Janet Atkins, Executive Director of the Avis Goodwin Community Health Center, joined President Obama today at the White House for an event recognizing the valuable role that community health centers play in our health care delivery system.

"Community health centers play an important role by providing affordable care to the nation's under- and uninsured, which is extremely important in this tough economy," said Shaheen. "This funding, and today's recognition at the White House, affirms that Avis Goodwin, Lamprey Health Care and all community health centers are essential to giving families the care they need, when they need it. We must continue to fund health care services that provide quality, affordable care, and I will continue to work with my colleagues in the Senate to pass a health care bill will make care more affordable and accessible to all Americans."

"This funding will allow Avis Goodwin Community Health Center to serve an additional 3,000 patients, and by relocating to Somersworth, patients will be able to more easily access the health center and take advantage of the services we provide," said Janet Atkins, Executive Director of Avis Goodwin Community Health Center.  "We are very excited to open our new facility, and we are very grateful to Senator Shaheen for her support."

"We are enormously grateful for these vital federal funds targeted to needy communities to improve and renovate their facilities in order to serve more patients in need," said Tess Kuenning, Executive Director of the Bi-State Primary Care Association.

Avis Goodwin Community Health Center will use this funding to help construct a new expanded health center in Somersworth that will consolidate the four separate facilities that currently comprise the center into one, centrally located health center. The consolidated space will enable the center to provide care to an additional 3,000 under- and uninsured patients, and will save $200,000 annually in operating expenses. Lamprey Health Care will use this funding to help construct a new facility in Nashua.

Across the state, more than 107,000 otherwise under- or uninsured people are served by community health centers with 31 sites in nine of New Hampshire's ten counties. New Hampshire's Community Health Centers employ more than 800 people statewide, often as a major employer in their area, and contribute more than $61 million into their local economies.

Community health centers play a key role in serving uninsured Americans nationwide. One in every 19 people living in the U.S. now relies on a clinic funded by HHS for primary care.