A Day Without a Community Health Center

To illustrate the important role community health centers such as CHAS plays in the Inland Northwest, over 200 CHAS employees, providers, patients and community members gathered at the CHAS Denny Murphy Clinic in downtown Spokane on November 30th, 2011.  The event was part of a statewide initiative, A Day Without a Community Health Center, with community health centers in Seattle, Moses Lake and Yakima participating in similar events.   

In addition to listening to Ryan Beaudoin, Chairman of the CHAS Board of Directors, Faith Byerly, a passionate CHAS patient, and Peg Hopkins, CHAS Executive Director, a large net was hung in the clinic courtyard.  The net displayed 670 balls, decorated by CHAS patients which represent the 670 patients per day that walk through the doors of a CHAS clinic.

CHAS is one of Washington’s 26 non-profit community health centers that provide access to all patients who walk through the door, regardless of their ability to pay. Health centers serve about one-tenth of the state’s population, totaling nearly 730,000 patients.