Washington, D.C. – The Association of Clinicians for the Underserved (ACU), alongside Advocates for Community Health (ACH) and the American Association of Teaching Health Centers (AATHC), sent a joint letter to Congressional leaders urging swift, bipartisan action to fully fund and reauthorize the Community Health Center Fund (CHCF), the National Health Service Corps (NHSC), and the Teaching Health Center Graduate Medical Education (THCGME) program.
As of October 1, 2025, the start of the new fiscal year without long-term funding left the future of these vital programs uncertain—placing clinicians, patients, and community health centers at risk.
- The NHSC supports more than 20,000 clinicians delivering primary, dental, and behavioral health care to 18 million patients at community health centers and other safety net sites.
- THCGME residents conduct more than one million patient visits annually, primarily in areas facing severe provider shortages.
- The CHCF sustains the nation’s network of health centers, enabling cost-effective, preventive care that reduces overall health care spending and keeps communities healthy.
Collectively, these programs are foundational to long-term workforce capacity, ensuring clinicians are trained and retained in the communities where they are most needed.
“The NHSC, THCGME, and CHCF programs are proven, bipartisan solutions to workforce shortages and inequities in access to care,” said ACU Chief Executive Officer Amanda Pears Kelly. “Congress must act now to ensure that these essential programs continue to connect clinicians to the communities that need them most. Every day that passes without action deepens uncertainty for providers and jeopardizes care for millions of patients.”
ACU joins ACH and AATHC in thanking Congressional leaders for their longstanding bipartisan support of the NHSC and calls for the immediate passage of full, multi-year reauthorizations for all three programs to ensure stability for clinicians, patients, and the communities they serve.
Access to care and workforce stability cannot wait.
About ACU
The Association of Clinicians for the Underserved (ACU) is a uniquely transdisciplinary membership organization striving to establish a robust, multifaceted workforce to help transform communities to increase access to quality health care for all. Founded in 1996 by participants in the National Health Service Corps (NHSC), ACU is the foremost advocate for the NHSC and leads advocacy, clinical, operational, and other areas of excellence, and supports the health care workforce caring for America’s under-resourced populations. To learn more about ACU, visit www.clinicians.org.
