National Health Center Week 2016
By All Measures, an Outstanding Success
Thank You & Congratulations!
Every year, planning for National Health Center Week (NHCW) begins months in advance of the actual event. NACHC, State Primary Care Associations, Health Centers and even individual advocates start brainstorming, about what their NHCW celebrations will entail. There are many elements and ingredients that go into making NHCW events a success; how to best showcase the great work of health centers, how to demonstrate the critically important role they play in their community, how to highlight the incredible innovations driven by the health center to treat the true needs of the community, the best way to recognize the invaluable contributions of staff and support of elected officials, and perhaps most important; how to CELEBRATE what makes the health center model so unique and successful. This year health centers not just met, but excelled in meeting each of these goals for success, hosting events from coast to coast, and delivering some of the best celebrations yet!
Every state in the nation participated in NHCW this year and more than 650 health centers held nearly 1650 events during NHCW 2016. For the 7th consecutive year, President Barack Obama issued an official proclamation recognizing August 7th -13th as National Health Center Week 2016. This year, Keynote speakers Senator Bernie Sanders and Acting Administrator, Jim Macrae helped kickoff NHCW 2016, joining NACHC President & CEO, Tom Van Coverden for a special NHCW 2016 TeleForum. During the call both Sanders and Macrae sang the praises of America’s Health Centers, touting the array of innovative solutions health centers have created to address the true needs of their community and the critical role health centers play as a core success to the healthcare system as a whole. In case you missed it, you can listen to the call and read the transcript on the Health Center Week website.
NHCW drew the attention and support of countless state and local elected officials in 2016 – more than thirty five states, counties and localities also issued resolutions and proclamations in recognition of this year’s celebration. More than 80 Members of Congress participated in NHCW events, joining the celebration in recognition of the critical role health centers play in their community and to the patients they serve. Hundreds of print, radio and broadcast media pieces also appeared throughout the week covering the wonderful events and celebrations happening around the nation. If you haven’t already, be sure to send us your media clips from NHCW at grassroots@nachc.com.
NHCW 2016 also proved to be an enormous success in the world of social media, garnering posts from countless members of Congress, state and local elected officials, HHS, HRSA and partner organizations recognizing the vital role health centers play in the communities they serve. Thousands of NHCW tweets and Facebook posts went out using the #NHCW16 hashtag, helping to spread the word and raise the visibility of health centers in recognition of NHCW 2016. Once again, the presence and reach of #NHCW16 on social media was among the most powerful and successful elements of this year’s celebrations – and still growing!
As the Health Center Program has grown, so too has National Health Center Week – evolving unofficially into “National Health Center Month” with celebrations occurring throughout the month of August. In particular, the NHCW Picture and Video Contest remains in full swing – be sure to submit your best images and videos as a part of this year’s contest. The contest submission period is open through August 31st – visit the contest pages to access rules and submission guidelines. The contest is a great way to gain national visibility for your health center and showcase the great events and celebrations hosted during NHCW. Keep the celebration going and make your submission today!
Year after year, NACHC has proudly organized and celebrated National Health Center Week, and one key factor has never been clearer: NHCW is a success because of the tremendous hard work and dedication of the staff, board members and patients at health centers everywhere. We want to take this opportunity to THANK YOU for another wonderful year of celebrations and success and congratulate you on a job extremely well done.
We are already thinking about National Health Center Week 2017 (August 13th – 19th) and we hope you’ll join us next year to raise the bar once again and make NHCW 2017 even bigger and better than each year prior.
Thank You-
The NACHC Advocacy Team
Amanda Pears Kelly – National Advocacy Director
Alexandra Harris – Grassroots Advocacy Manager, Special Populations
Elizabeth Kwasnik – Grassroots Advocacy Manager
Dorian Wanzer – Grassroots Advocacy Manager, Outreach & Communications
