Online resource documents the extraordinary history of the community health center movement
NEW YORK and WASHINGTON (June 9, 2022) - The RCHN Community Health Foundation (RCHN CHF) and the Geiger Gibson Program in Community Health at the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health today announced that with the sunset of RCHN CHF, the Foundation’s signature online resource highlighting the history of community health centers will have a new home at the Geiger Gibson Program.
Chronicles: The Community Health Center Story or CHroniCles, is a unique interactive, multimedia online resource dedicated to highlighting and recording the distinctive contributions made by America’s community health centers over the span of more than 50 years. The website was created by RCHN CHF, the Geiger Gibson Program and the National Association of Community Health Centers, in consultation with the health center community. Since its launch more than a decade ago, the website has been further developed, staffed and maintained by RCHN CHF. It is now a rich resource for scholars, the media, the general public and health center organizations themselves. The Geiger Gibson Program in Community Health will now house and maintain this distinctive project on behalf of the health center community.
“Every health center is the embodiment of its community’s aspirations for better health and health care, and each story is remarkably compelling,” Sara Rosenbaum, the Harold and Jane Hirsh Professor of Health Law and Policy at the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health, said. “The CHroniCles website 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. CHroniCles is a special treasure for students everywhere.”
The CHroniCles website provides health centers and primary care associations a portal to tell their own stories and today showcases narratives, photos, data, historic documents and other materials contributed by hundreds of health center organizations. Together with written and oral histories, photographs and other media developed expressly for the site, the vibrant health center profiles promote an understanding and appreciation of the exceptional role that community health centers play in the American health care system and in advancing health equity.
“Community health care centers have been providing high quality health care for more than 50 years,” Lynn R. Goldman, Dean of the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health, said. “We are honored to host this website which chronicles the rich history and impact these centers have had on health and health care access in communities all over the country.”
The CHroniCles website includes thousands of historic photos, interviews and other materials that document the significant nation-wide reach and sustained value of the community health center movement over more than five decades.
“The success of the community health center movement is built on the singular stories of each and every health center and primary care association, and CHroniCles helps tell those stories and make them accessible to viewers everywhere,” Feygele Jacobs, president and CEO of the RCHN Community Health Foundation, said. “We’re delighted that this rich resource will be preserved through the Geiger Gibson Program in Community Health.”
*This historic photo shows Dr. H. Jack Geiger and Dr. John W. Hatch during construction of the Delta clinic in 1966. Photo by Daniel Bernstein.
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