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About Us
Since 1982, Access Community Health Centers has been addressing the financial, cultural, and language barriers that prevent access to health care. As a not-for-profit charitable organization, we provide affordable and comprehensive primary medical and dental care at two convenient Madison locations.
What is a Community Health Center?
Access Community Health Centers, (formerly Madison Community Health Center), is one of a family of more than 1,000 health centers nationally that provide care to more than 15 million people in the United States. Community health centers are local, non-profit health care providers serving low income and medically underserved communities. Also known as Federally-Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), they are located in areas where care is needed, and improve access to care for millions of Americans. Their costs of care rank among the lowest, and their focus on prevention reduces the need for more expensive in-patient and specialty care, saving billions of dollars for taxpayers.
What is the need for health care services in Dane County?
Access Community Health Centers’ services are part of this community’s response to the significant need for services. In 2005, Access Community Health Centers conducted a review of existing community needs assessment data for Dane County and nationally. From that information, we determined an estimate of the unmet needs for services among Dane County residents. Key findings include the following.
- More than 100,000 primary care medical visits are needed annually to address the needs of the low-income uninsured and underserved in Dane County.
- More than 83,000 dental visits are needed annually to address the needs of the low income uninsured and underserved in Dane County.
- Between 2000 and 2020, the number of people in the United States with chronic conditions is expected to increase by 26 percent. This increase will place significantly more demand for health care services and for pharmaceuticals.
- Individuals with lower incomes receive less preventative care and are diagnosed at more advanced disease stages. For example, poor women without health insurance are two times more likely to be diagnosed with breast cancer in the advanced stages of the disease than women with health insurance and higher income levels.
How many people are served by Access Community Health Centers?
In 2006, more than 9,600 Dane County residents received medical and dental care from Access Community Health Centers. In 2007, we will serve approximately 11,000 men, women and children from Dane County with over 25,000 medical and 15,000 dental visits.
Who are the people served by Access Community Health Centers?
- Our patients come from every community in Dane County.
- Almost of our patients are low income, with almost one-half living with incomes below 100 percent of the Federal Poverty Level (an annual income of $20,650 or less for a family of four).
- Thirty-three percent of our patients are under the age of 18, 60 percent are between the ages of 18 and 54 and eight percent are 55 and older.
- More than one-half are uninsured, with the remainder having Medicaid, Medicare or private insurance.
How does Access Community Health Centers connect patients to the care they need?
Like all community health centers nationally, we help people access primary medical and dental care by providing services that address barriers to care. Our Sliding Discount Program makes services affordable to patients with the fewest resources. In addition, we provide an array of services that help our patients address the many barriers they face in accessing services. These services include:
- Information and referral
- Health benefits counseling
- Sliding discounts
- Mental health care
- Assistance with transportation
- Bilingual staff, interpreters and
case management services
What is being done about the unmet need in our community?
Access Community Health Centers is part of a community coalition of health care providers, business and civic leaders, lead by the United Way of Dane County, which is looking at community-wide responses to these challenges. In addition, as long as the need in this community exists, we are committed to doing more. Using the link below you can learn more about our growth in services over the past few years.
Growth Chart
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How We Are Funded
We would not exist without the help of our many partners and supporters. Funding of our operations comes from the following.
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