CHC awarded $589k in federal funds

Northwest Community Health Center is set to receive $589,353 in federal funding as the clinic continues to weather the coronavirus pandemic.

The local center was among 12 community health centers throughout the state awarded just over $7 million. U.S. Sen. Jon Tester helped secure the funding through the American Rescue Plan Act, according to a release from Tester’s office.

Maria Clemons, executive director of the Northwest Community Health Center, said the awarded funds would help revamp the center’s Troy and Libby facilities. Installing backup generators, minor repairs and improvements on the exterior and interior of the buildings are at the top of the list.

“Community Health Centers provide folks across Montana with affordable, high-quality health care and have been on the frontlines of protecting Montana’s frontier communities from the COVID-19 pandemic,” Tester said in the statement.

Local facilities like Northwest Community Health Center offer critical primary care services nationwide by cutting down on cost and distance barriers. Health centers serve one in five people living in rural communities and one in 11 people across the country on a sliding fee basis, according to the release.