Primed for Progress: Expanding Community Health Workers in CHCs

Community Health Workers (CHWs) build individual and community capacity by increasing health knowledge and self-sufficiency through a range of activities, such as outreach, community education, informal counseling, social support, and advocacy. Through the pandemic, health centers have struggled to maintain a workforce to meet the needs of our most vulnerable patients. This session will highlight opportunities to meaningfully incorporate community health workers into community health centers’ workforce to help support the innovation required to move passed COVID-19. The Biden administration recognizes the value in deploying CHWs in assisting with the COVID-19 vaccine distribution and working with community health centers to reach as many Americans as possible. For CHWs to have sustainable opportunities, it is imperative for programs like Medicaid to provide sustainable funding to support the long-term success. The session would include the executive director from the National Association of Community Health Workers, a PCA, and United Health.