History & Origins

California's community health clinics are rooted in two important social and economic justice movements of the 1960s and 70s. Lyndon Johnson's vision of the "Great Society" and a national challenge to attack the causes of poverty gave birth to Neighborhood Health Centers- the predecessors of today's community health centers. The community health movement in California is deeply tied to the struggle of migrant farm worker organizers to ensure that quality health care was widely available.

Community clinics were often the sole health provider for vulnerable and underserved populations. The clinics' commitment to their communities and conviction that health care be available to everyone regardless of ability to pay infused the movement with its original strength and dynamism.

Today's realities make it increasingly difficult to achieve the community health mission and pose very real threats to the future viability of community clinics. Community clinics' ability to react, anticipate, and adapt is being tested more than ever as we witness budget deficits, a declining economy and increasing world tensions. The commitment to the historic mission of the community clinic movement must be paired with operational strength in order to survive, continue to fulfill their mission, and become a pivotal asset in their communities.