WHEREAS, Community clinics and health centers are at the core of the nation’s health care safety net, serving anyone and everyone who walks through their doors, regardless of ability to pay, and they are the medical homes for more than 22 million needy and uninsured patients; and

WHEREAS, According to multiple government, academic, and private studies, community clinics and health centers have proven to be the most cost-effective health care providers in the field, saving nearly $24 billion annually by keeping patients out of costlier health care settings, such as emergency rooms; and

WHEREAS, Community clinics and health centers are private, nonprofit corporations. The majority of their boards of directors, by law, must be their patients and consumers, and their services are funded primarily through public programs such as Medicaid, federal grants, and state initiatives; and

WHEREAS, Community clinics and health centers in California and throughout the nation have led the movement for a fair and equitable health care system, treating medically underserved populations in medically underserved areas by reaching into the inner city and the most rural and most geographically isolated communities; and

WHEREAS, In California, more than five million low-income families, children, seniors, women, non-English speakers, people of color, and homeless individuals currently receive comprehensive primary care services at nearly 1,000 community clinics and health centers throughout the state; and

WHEREAS, Primary care at California community clinics and health centers involves a wide range of services, including preventive care, chronic disease management, well child, dental, pharmaceutical, immunization, mental health, substance abuse, breast cancer, nutrition, family planning, and pregnancy-related services, all of which are provided with particular sensitivity to language and cultural competency; and

WHEREAS, California’s community clinics and health centers have the major responsibility to provide health care services to the state’s most disadvantaged families and individuals, are at the forefront in implementing the national Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, and are preparing to serve the over three million Californians newly enrolled in Medi-Cal and Covered California under the act, as well as the two to three million persons who will remain uninsured; and

WHEREAS, California’s community clinics and health centers have played a critical role in the outreach, education, and enrollment for Covered California and Medi-Cal, accounting for 170 certified enrollment entities and employing one in three certified enrollment counselors in the state; and

WHEREAS, California’s community clinics and health centers account for 55 percent of assisted Covered California and Medi-Cal enrollments; and

WHEREAS, California’s and the nation’s community clinics and health centers deserve to be recognized and acknowledged for their valuable services to their communities and the state, their cost-effective delivery of primary health care services to the most vulnerable populations, and their leadership in working for fair and equitable health care reform; and

WHEREAS, The federal government, many other states, and local communities in all 50 states have observed and celebrated an annual National Health Center Week for 30 years; now, therefore, be it