News & Updates
What is a Community Health Center?

Henry J. Austin Health Center (HJAHC) celebrated National Health Center Week this past August. Senators Robert Menendez, Shirley Turner and Mayor Douglas H. Palmer, welcomed for their unwavering commitment to affordable and accessible health care, joined us. Pfizer, a partner in providing free and reduced prescriptions for Austin patients highlighted its “Share the Care Program”.

Health centers owe their existence to a remarkable turn of events in U.S. history, and to a few determined community health and civil rights activists working in low-income communities during the 1960s. Millions of Americans, living in inner-city neighborhoods and rural areas throughout the country suffered from deep poverty and a desperate need for health care. Among those who were determined to change those conditions was H. Jack Geiger, a young doctor and civil rights activist. Geiger had studied in South Africa and witnessed how a pioneering community health model had wrought astonishing improvements in the health of the Zulus, a population ravaged by apartheid. In the 1960s, as President Johnson's declared "War on Poverty" began to ripple through America, the first proposal for the U.S. version of a community health center sprung to life at the Office of Economic Opportunity. Funding was approved in 1965 for the first two neighborhood health center demonstration projects, one in Boston, Massachusetts, and the other in Mound Bayou, Mississippi.

The health center model that emerged targeted the roots of poverty by combining the resources of local communities with federal funds to establish neighborhood clinics in both rural and urban areas around America. It was a formula that not only empowered communities, but also generated compelling proof that affordable and accessible health care produced compounding benefits. Studies showed that the health center model reduced health disparities, lowered infant mortality rates, and reduced chronic disease. Health centers created jobs and other investments in hard-pressed communities, and produced cost-savings for the health care system by reducing the need for acute care at hospital emergency rooms.

The Office of Management and Budget identifies community health centers as one of the 10 most successful federal programs. Access to community health centers produces improved health outcomes and quality of life as well as the reduction in health disparities for millions of Americans.

The Trenton Neighborhood Health was established in 1969 by a young, African-American physician residing in Princeton, but prevented from working there because of segregation. Austin gained status as a private, non-profit 501(c) (3) corporation in 1986. The Henry J. Austin Health Center offers Adult Medicine, Pediatric Care, OB/GYN Care, Dental Care, Mental Health/Substance Abuse Treatment, HIV Testing and Treatment, and a variety of specialized programs, including SWEET (Successful Weight loss by Eating and Exercising Together), a medical and psychosocial/behavioral program aimed at addressing childhood obesity funded by The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Austin is the only community health care provider in Mercer County that offers primary medical and dental care on a sliding-fee scale. All services are provided regardless of health insurance status or ability to pay. Almost 92% of patients lack private medical insurance, 53% have Medicaid and 38.5% are uninsured. Last year Austin provided medical care to over 16,000 individuals generating approximately 73,000 visits.

Through services at its primary location on North Warren Street and its two satellite locations of Ewing Street Health Center, a new state-of-the art medical facility and Chambers Manor Family Practice, across the street from Trenton Central High School, Austin continues to provide primary care services to the area’s medically underserved and uninsured population. Health care needs of the uninsured are expanding and apparent in Hamilton Township, Austin’s fourth and newest location..

Austin provides the highest quality care to all its patients. In August, 1999, the US Department of Health and Human Services selected Austin to be one of the first Federally-Qualified Health Centers in New Jersey to be reviewed by the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Health Organizations (JCAHO). Austin achieved the highest level of accreditation -- Accreditation with Commendation. This accreditation was renewed in 2002 and 2005.

HJAHC seeks innovative and creative methods to ensure the health status of area residents. HJAHC will serve as a safety net for those who are vulnerable and continue to advocate for policies and actions that increase access to health care and support healthy communities.

Related Links:

• Press Release: Austin Wins Federal Expansion Grant