Madison, WI – This week, the Wisconsin Primary Health Care Association (WPHCA), representing the state’s 19 Community Health Centers, encourages partners, policymakers, and the public to join us in celebrating National Health Center Week! National Health Center Week is an annual opportunity to highlight the dedication of Community Health Centers to providing high quality primary care in under-resourced communities across the nation, and at more than 200 service locations in Wisconsin. Clinics across the state are hosting community resource fairs, tours, staff appreciation events, and more during National Health Center Week, August 3 through August 9.
In 2024, Community Health Centers in Wisconsin served 298,192 patients. However, clinics report that uninsured rates are on the rise, which will constrain their ability to serve more patients without adequate reimbursement. In 2021, at the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic which included continuous Medicaid enrollment, 15% (41,944 patients) of Wisconsin Community Health Center patients were uninsured. Today, 17% of Community Health Center patients are uninsured (50,252 patients). Community Health Centers are dedicated to helping patients maintain high-quality insurance, whether through Medicaid, Marketplace plans, employer-sponsored insurance, or other options, through use of outreach and enrollment staff and community partnerships. The combined factors of declining Medicaid enrollment and flat federal funding with a mandate to provide care regardless of insurance status pose new challenges for Community Health Centers. Nevertheless, Community Health Centers continue to proactively address local gaps in medical, dental, and behavioral health, and will be long-term partners in addressing community needs.
Even as Community Health Centers face unstable conditions in the future, they continue to innovate and expand to address local priorities. Recent examples of Community Health Centers stepping up to meet community needs include:
- Pillar Health, also known as Kenosha Community Health Center, opened a long-awaited site inside Julian Thomas Elementary School in Racine in June 2025, bringing much-needed primary medical care to both children and adults in a community that has lacked adequate services for years (read more).
- In January, Progressive Community Health Center in Milwaukee leveraged new federal funding to expand its Substance Use Disorder (SUD) treatment program and behavioral health services, including expanded access to Medications for Opioid Use Disorder (MOUD) and treatment for Alcohol Use Disorder (read more).
- This summer, Noble Community Clinic significantly expanded their capacity to provide dental care through a brand new clinic in Stevens Point (read more).
- Outreach Community Health Centers is now training the next generation of family physicians through a partnership with the Medical College of Wisconsin, Froedtert Health, and Children’s Wisconsin (read more).
- NorthLakes Community Clinic, based out of Ashland, launched multiple new sites and service lines including pediatric therapies, behavioral health services in Rice Lake, and medical services in Augusta, addressing health care gaps after other systems shuttered in 2024 (read more).
- Scenic Bluffs and Reedsburg Area Medical Center just announced plans to partner in opening a new dental clinic in fall 2025, following successful launch of a mobile dental unit in January (read more here and here).
- With the goal of expanding access to affordable medications for the community, Sixteenth Street Community Health Centers opened a pharmacy on Milwaukee’s near south side (read more).
Join us in celebrating these recent success stories and National Health Center Week in Wisconsin!
Learn more about Community Health Centers and find an event near you here and check out more news on WPHCA’s blog.
