CHroniCles site aims to document important stories of health centers

The RCHN Community Health Foundation and the Geiger Gibson Program in Community Health Policy at the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services today announced the launch of CHroniCles, a dynamic, multi-media website dedicated to the living history of the community health center movement.

CHroniCles aims to document the vibrant, varied and important stories of health centers across the country through a web-based portal of narratives, photographs, videos and other materials. The website creates a virtual tapestry, allowing viewers to pay an online visit to every community health center in the U.S., to see the richness and diversity of CHCs in urban and rural areas and to view their positive impact on the individuals and communities they serve.

"Every health center is the embodiment of its community's aspirations for better health and health care, and each story is uniquely compelling," said Sara Rosenbaum, J.D. Harold and Jane Hirsh Professor and Director, Geiger Gibson Program in Community Health Policy at the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services. "CHroniCles conveys the successes of each health center as well as that of a movement dedicated to improving access and providing high quality health care to all."

The first release of the CHroniCles site (www.CHCChronicles.org) showcases materials from early contributors, as well as new material developed and recorded especially for the project. Over time the site aims to create an interactive, online portal that will permit every health center to tell its own story, in its own voice.

"The RCHN Community Health Foundation is dedicated to supporting and advancing community health centers nationally," said Julio Bellber, president and CEO of the RCHN Community Health Foundation. "Through CHroniCles, we are able to create a virtual quilt where health centers can share their remarkable stories with a broad and diverse audience."

"Since the nation's first health centers opened in Mound Bayou, Mississippi and Boston, Massachusetts in 1965, the community health center program has grown to more than 1,250 centers serving more than 20 million people in every state and territory," said Thomas van Coverden, president and CEO of the National Association of Community Health Centers. "The success of the health center movement is the story of each and every health center, working to provide high quality care and improve the health status of their community. CHroniCles will help us tell those stories."

Source: RCHN Community Health Foundation