Thousands of health center leaders from across the United States gathered this week to talk about the challenges and opportunities facing the organizations that serve more than 34 million people with essential health services.

The CHI Community Health Conference and Expo was the nation’s largest network of primary care providers made up of community health centers, or CHCs, and was hosted by the National Association of Community Health Centers, or NACHC.

These health centers are currently serving a record-breaking number of patients at nearly 34 million – more than ever in their 60-year history. Many health center patients lack insurance or are underinsured, and can seek care at health centers, regardless of ability to pay. Community health centers are often the first and only point of care for millions in underserved areas, and also play a critical role during disasters, often acting as first responders during times of crisis.

The conference brought together nearly 3,000 CHC leaders from across the nation alongside more than 180 exhibitors representing the full healthcare spectrum. Sessions covered a wide array of topics, including food as medicine initiatives and chronic disease management initiatives. Strategic sessions also address the safe and responsible integration of artificial intelligence into clinical practice.

NACHC CEO Dr. Kyu Rhee kicked off the general session on Monday morning, with a surprise visit from Sesame Street’s Cookie Monster, to talk about the importance of food as medicine and the key role health centers play in the nation’s primary care health system.

Rhee also spoke about the important role health centers play during disasters and other emergencies. Rhee spoke about visiting a health center in Maui impacted by the 2023 Lahaina wildfires, and how staff immediately responded to those fires, and are still responding two years later, supporting patients with post-traumatic stress and ongoing health needs.

“[Health centers] are the first, and the last, responders, and Direct Relief has been a partner of choice to support this work,” Rhee said. “They work to help people recover from disasters and improve the quality of their lives.”

Rhee introduced Direct Relief CEO Amy Weaver, who thanked health centers and their staff for the “vital, complex, and often unsung work that you do every single day.”

During the time the organization has Direct Relief has supported health centers during disasters, as well as on an ongoing basis, “we’ve seen your work up close. We’ve seen your patients’ A1C levels drop. We’ve met patients whose lives turned around because of your HIV treatment, your substance use recovery programs, your trauma care. We’ve seen your cooking classes, the fresh produce, the trust you build every day,” she said.

Health centers have filled a vital role in the nation’s safety net since the civil rights era, pairing medical care with deep understanding. “You are more vital than ever to Direct Relief’s mission of increasing health for all people – regardless of religion, politics, or ability to pay,” she said.

Weaver’s remarks can be found here.

Direct Relief’s support of health centers in the United States dates back to Hurricane Katrina in 2005, when Direct Relief worked to reach out to health centers in impacted communities and backstop them with critical medical support. Up to that time, Direct Relief’s support had primarily focused on international shipments of medication, but the need in the U.S., post-Katrina, called for a new strategy.

“What Direct Relief realized – rather painfully – at that moment was that we could send medicine to Liberia, but we didn’t have the expertise or licensing to send medicine to Louisiana,” she said.

That changed with a call to the National Association of Community Health Centers, Weaver said, which provided guidance and connected Direct Relief with local health centers in the impacted areas. “We witnessed these community health centers – along with free clinics, charitable pharmacies, and volunteer doctors and nurses sleeping in churches – step up in the weeks afterward to care for people who’d lost their homes and their medicines,” she said.

At that time, Direct Relief had never responded to a domestic disaster on a large scale. But within six months, the organization had provided more than $50 million in medical aid and funding assistance to health centers in the Gulf Coast, establishing a network of partners in the region. That move inspired Direct Relief to pivot its focus from being solely international to becoming the largest charitable medicines program in the United States, supporting all 50 states and four US territories.

Since that time, Direct Relief has shipped more than $1 billion wholesale in medical aid to community health center partners, and over 100,000 deliveries – all of it completely free of cost. The organization has also awarded more than $128 million in funding to over 600 health centers to support community health, access, resilient power, mobile health, and disaster response.

As health centers work to continue to serve patients across the U.S., Weaver encouraged them to keep going in that spirit of service and deep knowledge of their own communities.

“You’re local experts, but you have universal wisdom to share,” she said. “And together, we are unstoppable.”