MCG FQHC & CHC Educational Partners

FQHCs by regulation, provide interdisciplinary and comprehensive Primary Care to entire communities and serve as safety net providers by mitigating financial, logistical, cultural, and linguistic barriers to health care access. These are non-profit organizations providing health care access to insured, underinsured and uninsured populations and communities.

This whole community access approach of FQHCs is made possible by participation in a Federal Prospective Payment System, federal grants, philanthropy, and other programs as well as usual sources of payment for health care services. These resources support health care delivery which includes social services, behavioral health, pharmacy, substance abuse, health care outreach, laboratory, quality initiatives, and case management programs. Clinical outreach could also include School, Employee, and Farmworker (Agricultural) Health and care in patients’ homes or long-term care living facilities. Health care providers in these settings consist of physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, pharmacists, dentists, social workers, and dietitians. Most MCG education affiliated FQHCs are recognized or certified as a Patient Centered Medical Home by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA), Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Centers (AAAHC) or other national agencies facilitating quality through formal assessments and improvement strategies. This inaugural group of MCG educationally affiliated FQHCs is a part of 35 such health centers in Georgia each with distributed clinical sites providing health care services to communities in most of the state’s 159 counties (one in Aiken, South Carolina) and many with a history of prior MCG student engagement.

CHCs are nonprofit health clinics committed to improving health care access for underserved communities and populations by providing Primary Care, prevention, wellness, and other health services to individuals and families regardless of financial status.

This whole community access for insured, underinsured, and uninsured individuals is generally facilitated through collaboration with and support from local health care organizations (in some instances, federal or state sources, philanthropy, and other community partners as well as payment for health care services). The patients of these CHCs generally live in zip codes and/or geographic areas challenged by socioeconomics, health care access, and health disparities. CHCs are an essential part of the health care system assisting those who lack or have limited access to health care services. 

The inaugural MCG educationally affiliated CHCs receive financial operating support from the private sector, philanthropic, patient fees, insurance reimbursement, state and local grants, and other community affiliation resources.  The Primary Care clinical team of MCG’s CHC Educational Partners consists of Physicians, Nurse Practitioners and Physician Assistants.  Along with this inaugural collection of MCG educationally affiliated CHCs are numerous other-like health centers distributed throughout the state serving community health and health care needs. For this community health education experience, the three CHCs serving populations surrounding MCG’s main campus in Augusta were identified to promote student community and educational engagement.  Each has a history of formal and informal educational engagements with MCG students.