Every August, we celebrate National Health Center Week alongside more than 1,400 health centers across the country. But the story behind that celebration goes back six decades.
Community health centers began in 1965, born out of the War on Poverty and a simple idea: healthcare shouldn’t depend on your zip code or your ability to pay. The first two centers opened in Boston and rural Mississippi, built by neighbors who saw a gap and stepped in to close it. That same spirit is what has carried the movement forward ever since.
Today, health centers like LRMC serve as the medical home for more than 32 million people nationwide. Congress established the 340B Drug Pricing Program in 1992 to help stretch those resources further, letting nonprofit providers purchase medications at a discount and reinvest the savings directly into patient care.
LRMC has been part of this legacy since 1978. What started as one health center has grown into seven, reaching families across Horry, Georgetown, and Williamsburg counties through medical, dental, behavioral health, and pharmacy care — plus mobile programs that bring services straight to the community.
We welcome patients with Medicare, Medicaid, TRICARE, commercial insurance, or no insurance at all. That’s not a footnote to our mission. It’s the whole point.
Want to see the bigger picture? The National Association of Community Health Centers put together a great look at this history and its impact today: America’s Health Centers: An Enduring Legacy, Value for Today and Tomorrow.
Together, we build healthier communities. That’s been true since 1965, and it’s still true today.
