First Lady Announces New Stimulus Spending on Community Health Centers

First Lady Michelle Obama today announced the release of $851-million in economic-stimulus money to help build, renovate, or equip more than 1,500 community health centers.

Speaking at the Upper Cardozo Health Center in Washington, Ms. Obama said the money would help “thousands of centers across the country expand and serve more Americans who simply can’t afford insurance coverage anymore.”

She said more than 650 centers will use the money to buy new equipment or health-information technology systems, and nearly 400 to adopt or expand the use of electronic health records.

The grants are part of $2-billion that the economic-stimulus law allocated to community health centers. See The Chronicle‘s coverage of previous stimulus spending to expand health-care services to the poor and an overview of how charities are seeking billions of dollars in stimulus aid.