Kuster, Hassan Honored as Health Champions by Harbor Care During Community Health Center Week

 Yesterday, Congresswoman Annie Kuster (NH-02) and U.S. Senator Maggie Hassan (D-NH) visited Harbor Care’s Health and Wellness Center to honor and celebrate National Community Health Center Week. During the event, Kuster and Hassan were awarded the Health Champion Award for their work in support of New Hampshire’s community health centers. Last year, Kuster and Hassan helped deliver $2 million to Harbor Care to expand access to quality virtual health care and support services like telehealth, remote patient monitoring, and digital patient tools.

“Community health centers play an essential role in delivering care to communities across New Hampshire — we must equip them with the resources they need to care for their patients,” said Congresswoman Kuster. “Harbor Care is a vital health care partner in our state and demonstrates the positive impact that community health centers have. During Community Health Center Week and every week, I want to thank the health care providers who work hard each day to ensure families across our state have the support they need.” 

“It was a pleasure to join Harbor Care today as we mark National Health Center Week,” said Senator Hassan. “Community health centers play a vital role in the mission of expanding access to quality health care, which is why I have worked across party lines to secure funding for them. I will keep working to protect funding for community health centers and bring down health care costs.”

“We were pleased to have Senator Hassan, Congresswoman Kuster, and Mayor Donchess join us today to celebrate the impact community health centers have in addressing the healthcare needs of many of our most vulnerable community members,” states Henry Och, President & CEO of Harbor Care. “Community Health Centers, such as Harbor Care’s Health & Wellness Center, are vital to reducing health disparities and promoting health equity in underserved areas, reaching those who might otherwise be left without essential care.”

Congresswoman Kuster is a leading advocate for our community health centers. Earlier this year, she introduced legislation to increase access to mental and behavioral health services provided through community health centers by expanding weekend and evening hours, creating new service sites, and investing in the primary care workforce. Kuster also played a critical role in establishing Harbor Care’s Veterans First Transitional Housing in Nashua.

Senator Hassan has led efforts to bring down health care costs. The most recent government funding bill, which is now law, included three bipartisan measures backed by Senator Hassan to increase access to generic and biosimilar medications. In addition, Senator Hassan led successful bipartisan efforts to help eliminate surprise medical billing, which has prevented at least 9 million surprise bills and helped continue funding for community health centers. Additionally, the Inflation Reduction Act included a number of key provisions that Senator Hassan pushed for to take on Big Pharma and address the skyrocketing cost of prescription drugs, including allowing Medicare to negotiate prescription drug prices – which will bring down the cost of prescription drugs for Medicare beneficiaries and help drive down prices across the board – and capping out-of-pocket expenses for Medicare prescription drugs.

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