CHC projections show a need for 14,000 physicians in their facilities by the year 2020. With the new partnership, ATSU will help supply health care staff and ensure that the underserved receive necessary medical care.

ATSU Partners with the Community Health Center to Bring Care to Low Income Families

A partnership between the Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine of A.T. Still University (KCOM/ATSU) and the nationwide Community Health Center (CHC) network of clinics provides some low-income families access to medical services regardless of their ability to pay.

A safety net for low-income families, CHCs are funded by the government to provide medical services and operate in mostly rural and inner-city areas where there are few medical services available. However, amid projected doctor shortages and lack of funds, the National Association of Community Health Centers, which represents the nation’s network of over 1,000 federally qualified health centers, and KCOM/ATSU have collaborated in order to provide training, staff, and eventually new doctors to CHCs nationwide.

Through the partnership, KCOM/ATSU has proposed establishing a new medical school on its second campus in Mesa, Ariz. The school’s unique curriculum structure will provide a continuous flow of osteopathic medical students and physicians into the CHC national network.

Nationwide, CHCs are understaffed and are having difficulty recruiting essential health care personnel. Recent studies have warned that the number of physicians working in the centers will decrease dramatically during the next 15 years. Making things even worse are budget proposals by the Bush administration that will cut or freeze the few federal programs that help pay to train the doctors who work in CHCs.

While the partnership aims to ensure that patients in the Kirksville area get the medical attention they need despite their financial constraints, KCOM/ATSU and CHC hope other medical schools across the nation will follow in their footsteps so patients throughout the country will benefit.