The North Carolina Community Health Center Association extends its deepest gratitude to the Dogwood Health Trust for its generous donation to support the urgent funding needs of Community Health Centers (CHCs) impacted by Hurricane Helene.

CHCs provide comprehensive, affordable care to underserved communities, including rural residents who were among those most heavily affected by the storm. Despite suffering both organizational and personal losses, the Health Center workforce has remained a lifeline for thousands of impacted individuals in the disaster area, providing essential medical care with mobile units in hard-hit communities, performing door-to-door well checks, and reopening health center sites and pharmacies even while staff dealt with unimaginable losses.

Thanks to Dogwood Health Trust’s critical emergency relief funding, seven Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) within the foundation’s operating area are receiving relief funding to help support operations, pay staff, and provide vital care to impacted residents in the immediate aftermath of the storm.

“Hurricane Helene has affected the people and communities of Western North Carolina in unimaginable ways,” said Dr. Susan Mims, CEO of Dogwood Health Trust. “Our response includes this funding for short-term relief, and we will be here for long-term recovery and rebuilding as well. We are working with our funded partners to get resources to all our neighbors in need throughout the region.”

NCCHCA and the health center recipients are deeply grateful for Dogwood Health Trust’s unwavering commitment to health equity and its continued partnership as we work together to help Western North Carolina recover.

Despite this generous donation and others, the vast scale of devastation left by Helene and prolonged service interruptions mean that additional financial support will be needed to maintain operations in the near term and to support the long-term full recovery for our Western North Carolina Health Centers and communities.

CHC Disaster Relief Fund: To support ongoing recovery, NCCHCA has launched a group CHC Disaster Relief Fund to provide financial assistance to health centers and their staff as they rebuild. Donations to the NCCHCA Disaster Relief Fund will reach multiple impacted health centers with needed resources as they continue providing affordable medical and mental health care, medications, and hope to impacted communities.

See more about how CHCs stepped into the breach to serve their communities after Helene in this PDF: https://www.ncchca.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Community-Health-Centers-on-the-Frontlines-of-Helene-10.23.24.pdf.

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Oct. 16, 2024 – Hurricane Helene wreaked havoc on infrastructure, homes, and businesses across Western North Carolina, and severely impacted Western N.C. Community Health Centers (CHCs) and the patients they serve.

Helene Impact on CHCs: Several Western North Carolina health centers experienced significant damage to facilities, including:

• Blue Ridge Health,
• High Country Community Health,
• Mountain Community Health Partnership, and
• WestLife Wellness

These health center property losses have a heavy impact on community access to care. For instance, High Country Community Health lost a dental clinic with seven exam chairs, which was the only local place for uninsured people to seek affordable dental care in Avery County.

NCCHCA CEO Chris Shank with Blue Ridge Health CEO Dr. Hudspeth

At least seven other health center organizations in the impacted area – including Western North Carolina Community Health Services and Appalachian Mountain Health, both serving the Asheville area, and Hot Springs Health Program serving Madison County, have experienced moderate to severe operational disruptions due to utility outages and other storm-related impacts.

Health Care Heroes Respond to Crisis

While suffering immense property and personal losses due to this unprecedented natural disaster, CHC staff rose to bring care to communities in need during this unprecedented natural disaster by:

• Volunteering to care for people living in temporary shelters and patients evacuated to the Hickory airport from other facilities
• Performing door-to-door well checks in public housing and senior housing communities
• Working quickly to reopen clinics and pharmacies, and to connect patients with needed medicine and supplies, even making deliveries to patients in some areas by ATV
• Bringing mobile health units into hard-hit rural communities with care providers and supplies

Health center staff continue to provide comprehensive medical, mental health care, and dental care to impacted communities, while also working to connect patients to food, medicine, water, and other essential supplies.

“Community Health Centers have shown incredible resilience and commitment to their communities,” said Chris Shank, President & CEO of NCCHCA. “Even as many of them dealt with personal and professional losses, they remained focused on providing life-saving care to the people who rely on them.”

See more examples of how NC Community Health Centers stepped into the breach to serve their communities after Helene in this PDF.

Short- and Long-Term Recovery Needs

While CHCs continue to deliver essential services, the scale of the devastation and the impact of disrupted operations means long-term financial support will be essential to support local recovery – and to retain the rural health care workforce in North Carolina.

• Immediate relief funding is needed to restore full operations, replace equipment, and support patients and staff who have lost everything. With closures impacting cash flow, nonprofit Community Health Centers also need adequate resources to maintain the rural health care workforce so impacted communities aren’t left without the providers they depend on while they recover.
• Long term recovery funding, including for capital needs and future resilience, will be necessary to restore and sustain availability of essential health services in the region. Without critical investments, we anticipate significant long-term impacts on provider recruitment and retention, provider wellness, availability of mental health services, and access to housing and jobs for our patient populations.

WNCCHS Pharmacy after reopening

“We are grateful for the immediate support we’ve received, but the road to recovery is long,” Shank said. “We call on state and federal leaders to provide additional resources to help rebuild the health care infrastructure in Western North Carolina.”

NCCHCA and CHC Response

NCCHCA has been coordinating closely with impacted health centers, as well as state and federal agencies to advocate for health centers and connect them with critical supplies. The Association has also submitted a request to the North Carolina General Assembly for a relief funding package to support long-term Health Center recovery.

Supported by partners and other community health centers in the state like Kintegra Health, which donated use of its mobile unit and its warehouse for supply collection and distribution, NCCHCA will continue its work to ensure health centers have the resources and support needed to continue their work.

CHC Disaster Relief Fund

To support ongoing recovery, NCCHCA has launched a group CHC Disaster Relief Fund to provide financial assistance to health centers and their staff as they rebuild. Donations to the NCCHCA Disaster Relief Fund will reach multiple impacted health centers with needed resources as they continue providing affordable medical and mental health care, medications, and hope to impacted communities.

Media Contact: Stacie Borrello, Communications and External Affairs Manager, borrellos@nccha.org