A new $102 million federal investment will support 415 additional health center sites nationwide, expanding primary, mental health, dental, substance-use and preventive services to nearly 1 million more Americans.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
The Department of Health and Human Services is directing $102 million toward a major expansion of federally supported community health centers, with the agency saying the investment will bring primary and preventive care to nearly 1 million additional Americans.
HHS announced Aug. 13 that the funding, administered through the Health Resources and Services Administration, will support 158 new and existing health centers as they establish 415 additional service sites across the country.
The centers provide a broad range of care, including primary medical services, mental health treatment, dental care, substance use disorder treatment and other health services.
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said the expansion is intended to place greater emphasis on prevention while improving access in communities that frequently face barriers to affordable care.
“Strong primary care prevents disease and gives Americans greater control over their health,” Kennedy said. “This $102 million investment will bring high-quality care to nearly one million more Americans, expand prevention and nutrition services, and help communities tackle chronic disease at its roots. We are giving more Americans the tools to live healthier lives and Make America Healthy Again.”
The $102 million initiative represents the first major expansion of HRSA’s Health Center Program since President Donald Trump’s first administration.
The program already operates on a large national scale.
HRSA-supported health centers provide comprehensive primary care to more than 32 million people through more than 16,000 service locations across the United States.
The centers serve approximately one in five rural residents, one in 15 Americans age 65 and older and one in eight children.
The latest funding comes as the program reaches record patient levels.
HHS reported Aug. 3 that HRSA health centers served 32.7 million patients in 2025, the highest total in the Health Center Program’s 61-year history.
That represented an increase of more than 350,000 patients from 2024.
Rural communities accounted for much of the growth, with federally supported health centers serving an additional 308,000 rural patients during 2025.
The program also disproportionately serves lower-income Americans.
According to HRSA data, approximately 90% of patients treated at federally funded health centers last year had household incomes at or below 200% of the federal poverty level.
HRSA says the centers have demonstrated an ability to provide care efficiently even while treating populations with greater medical needs and fewer financial resources.
“Health center patients have better outcomes at lower cost. This is true even though health centers treat people who are sicker and have lower income,” the agency said.
The centers reported substantial preventive and chronic-care activity in 2025.
More than 3.9 million patients receiving care through the program had their hypertension under control.
Health centers also screened approximately 2.1 million patients for breast cancer and 4.6 million for cervical cancer.
Mental health services were provided to 3.1 million people.
The new funding is intended to expand that reach while increasing the availability of preventive care and nutrition-related services.
HRSA Administrator Tom Engels said the grants will increase access to “affordable, high-quality primary care in communities across the country.”
Officials expect that broader access to primary care could help identify health problems earlier, improve management of chronic conditions and reduce the likelihood that patients delay treatment until illnesses become more serious.
The investment comes amid continuing concern about the cost of healthcare in the United States.
Between July 2025 and July 2026, the 12-month inflation rate for medical care services remained between 2.7% and 4.3% every month, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data.
The American Heart Association warned in an April 2026 advisory that the country is confronting a “growing health care affordability crisis.”
The organization attributed rising healthcare spending to several factors, including high prices for medical services and prescription drugs, insufficient investment in primary care and public health, and increasing administrative complexity.
National health expenditures reached $5.3 trillion in 2024, equivalent to $15,474 per person, according to the American Heart Association.
“Patients, even those with insurance, frequently face financial hardship, delayed or foregone care, and medical debt because of gaps in coverage and inadequate consumer protections,” the advisory stated.
Against that backdrop, the Trump administration has increasingly emphasized primary and rural healthcare investment as part of its broader health policy.
In December 2025, the administration announced a separate rural-health initiative under which states were expected to receive approximately $147 million to $281 million each during 2026.
The program provides a combined $10 billion annually to states from 2026 through 2030, totaling $50 billion over five years.
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz said at the time that the money was intended to address structural weaknesses in rural healthcare rather than simply reimburse existing expenses.
“The purpose of this $50 billion investment in rural health care is not to pay off bills,” Oz told reporters Dec. 29. “The purpose of this $50 billion investment is to allow us to right-size the system and to deal with the fundamental hindrances of improvement in rural health care.”
The administration says those rural investments and the newly announced health-center expansion are intended to improve access before medical problems become more severe and expensive.
HHS is also developing a separate initiative tied to domestic manufacturing.
As part of the Health Center Program expansion, HRSA is creating a platform designed to help participating health centers identify American-made products.
The latest $102 million investment places primary care at the center of the administration’s effort to address chronic illness, affordability and gaps in access.
With 415 new sites planned through 158 participating health centers, HHS estimates that nearly 1 million additional Americans will gain access to services ranging from routine medical care and cancer screenings to behavioral health, dental treatment and substance use disorder care.
For Kennedy, the expansion is also part of the administration’s broader Make America Healthy Again agenda, which places increased emphasis on prevention, nutrition and addressing chronic disease before patients require more intensive treatment.
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