Editorial
Community health centers are the backbone of our nation’s primary health care system, and Rockbridge Area Health Center proudly serves as that backbone for the Rockbridge area. Like health centers across the country, RAHC provides high-quality, comprehensive and integrated primary care and offers access to affordable, quality health care for nearly 10,000 of our neighbors, regardless of insurance status or ability to pay.
Our community health center isn’t just about better health; it’s about a healthier bottom line for our entire health care system. By proactively preventing illness, RAHC significantly reduces the need for expensive interventions. This means fewer emergency room visits, fewer lengthy hospital stays and a dramatic decrease in the associated costs that burden our health care infrastructure. Investing in our community health center is investing in a more efficient, sustainable and affordable health care future for everyone.
RAHC is dedicated to “bridging health care gaps” – the theme that guides its charitable work providing comprehensive medical, dental and behavioral health care services at two physical locations in the Rockbridge area. RAHC has expanded its reach through mobile medical and dental clinics serving Goshen, Natural Bridge, Rockbridge Baths, Glasgow and the local public schools. In 2024, RAHC opened two schoolbased health centers, now serving hundreds of students across the local community, removing transportation barriers and making health care accessible where children learn.
These innovative methods of health care delivery are vital in rural communities like ours, where geographic isolation, transportation issues and economic hurdles can create significant health care gaps. By bringing services directly to patients, whether in schools or through mobile units, RAHC is literally building bridges to better health for all residents of our community.
Health care access here isn’t just a policy issue — it’s deeply personal. What follows is a story about a grandmother living locally who is raising four grandchildren, ages 4 through 15, on her own.
Like many grandparents unexpectedly thrust into the parenting role, she juggles the impossible daily. With each child attending a different school and participating in various activities, she struggles to be everywhere at once – at athletic events, school functions and critical health care appointments.
Before RAHC expanded its services, this grandmother faced an impossible choice: miss work to drive children to distant medical appointments or neglect their health care needs altogether. Her story illustrates why community health centers are lifelines, not luxuries.
Her 15-year-old grandson now receives his annual physical just minutes from home at RAHC’s Buena Vista location. One of her adolescent granddaughters sees a medical provider for sick visits and regularly meets with a counselor right at her school through RAHC’s school-based health center. No more missed school days. No more impossible transportation logistics.
When health care barriers seemed insurmountable, RAHC support specialists stepped in, helping this grandmother navigate the complex process of enrolling all four children in Medicaid. But having insurance means nothing without providers who accept it. RAHC stands apart as one of the few health care providers in our county that accepts all Medicaid patients who register.
This grandmother’s story is just one of thousands. The threat of cuts to Medicaid funding could unravel this vital safety net for families like hers. Without adequate funding, community health centers such as RAHC may be forced to reduce services, limit hours, or, worse.
As we observe National Health Center Week (August 3-9), we urge our community to recognize that RAHC isn’t just a health care facility – it’s the difference between children receiving care or going without, between a grandmother managing her impossible juggling act or dropping the ball on her grandchildren’s health.
Our representatives in Congress need to hear stories like this grandmother’s. They need to understand that their decisions about health care funding directly impact real families in our community. We urge them to restore and strengthen funding for community health centers nationwide.
For this grandmother and countless others in our community, our community health center isn’t just convenient — it’s essential.
