Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) — first established in 1965 as part of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s War on Poverty — play a crucial role in the healthcare system, especially for underserved and vulnerable populations.

FQHCs receive federal funding from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, to maintain an open-door policy and provide care regardless of an individual’s ability to pay.

Considering how they annually serve more than 32.5 million patients in the U.S., making them the nation’s largest primary care network, FQHCs are vital for ensuring that comprehensive, culturally competent, and affordable healthcare is accessible to everyone.

FQHCs are just one health center model. Unlike FQHC’s, charitable clinics do not receive government support and rely on private funding and highly skilled volunteers to provide free care to uninsured patients.

As part of its dedication to the health and well-being of communities in southeastern Pennsylvania, in 2024, the Independence Blue Cross Foundation awarded grants to 65 health center sites, including 35 FQHCs, eight charitable clinics, and 22 nonprofit/mobile clinics. These clinics provide services for nearly 260,000 children and families across Philadelphia, Delaware, Montgomery, Chester, and Bucks counties.

“FQHCs and free clinics are frontline healthcare providers for medically underserved communities and are a critical part of the healthcare safety net,” said Heather Major, Executive Director of the IBX Foundation. “They play an important part in the healthcare ecosystem, delivering affordable and timely healthcare services, and enable people to stay out of the E.R. for non-emergency care. And you can find a health center in every state.”

Locally, the IBX Foundation’s support of health centers is helping to increase access to care in medically underserved communities and populations. Today, 20 percent of the uninsured population in the five-county region of southeastern Pennsylvania access care at a health center supported by the IBX Foundation.

“There’s a saying that if you’ve seen one health center, you’ve only seen one health center,” said Major. “They’re representative of the populations they serve to meet local needs, and we have a lot of diversity across southeastern Pennsylvania. We have the wealthiest county in the state in Chester County, the poorest in the state in Philadelphia, and urban, suburban, and rural geographies.”

Since its launch in 2011, the IBX Foundation has been a collaborator — working with nonprofit organizations, educational institutions, and health and government agencies to meet the healthcare needs of local underserved communities. To illustrate, the IBX Foundation has since awarded grants totaling nearly $35 million to local health centers through its Blue Safety Net Program. In that time, among IBX Foundation-funded health centers:

• The number of primary care patients increased by 60 percent.
• The number of patients at dental and vision clinics increased five-fold.
• The total number of health center patients and visits nearly doubled.

As highlighted in the video below, the Delaware Valley Community Health Maria de los Santos Health Center in North Philadelphia is one of the FQHCs that the IBX Foundation supports. The health center is the largest provider of primary healthcare services to Latinos in the city.

“Philadelphia has so many wonderful academic medical centers, hospitals, and traditional treatment centers,” said Brenda Robles Cooke, Senior Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer at Maria de los Santos. “However, our patients are often hesitant to go there because of the language barrier, lack of providers that look like them, and other feelings of discomfort. We try to fill that gap by offering culturally competent care. We’re grateful to the Independence Blue Cross Foundation for being such a great partner in our success.”

The IBX Foundation’s approach goes beyond funding to create meaningful change. Just consider the educational component to its support of health centers.

Through its Nursing Internship Program, the IBX Foundation provides salary support for undergraduate student nurses from some of its 22 partner schools to intern for 10 weeks at a health center in the summer. The program has helped prepare nearly 300 future nurses to deliver community-based, preventive, person-centered care to patients. It’s a unique learning opportunity that goes beyond standard clinical rotations in hospital settings.

“It’s an immersive educational experience and a real benefit to our region and its eds-and-meds culture,” said Major. “Student nurses gain new perspectives on the many roles nurses can play to help deliver quality care, all while cultivating professional and leadership skills to set them up for success in their healthcare career.”

Learn more about the IBX Foundation and its commitment to expanding access to care, strengthening the health workforce, and enabling greater health equity.