CASSOPOLIS — Cassopolis Family Clinic is marking National Health Center Week 2010 (NHCW) with daily health topics, as part of a week-long campaign (Aug. 8-14) to raise awareness about the mission and accomplishments of America’s Health Centers.

There are coast-to-coast events at local health centers that include health fairs, press conferences and tours by members of Congress.

This is the first celebration of NHCW since enactment of the landmark health reform law, which provides a direct investment to strengthen primary care through the expansion of Community Health Centers.

One of the bright spots in America’s health care system, Community Health Centers are the family doctor to more than 20 million people at 8,000 sites nationwide.

Their critical role in providing quality primary care has been widely praised by bipartisan congressional leaders and the last two presidential administrations.

Health centers have also been in the public spotlight because now more than ever the uninsured and casualties of the economic recession are seeking their services.

That is why funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act made it possible for health centers to serve more than 2 million patients and more than 1 million uninsured patients.

With reform, the U.S. health care system will save up to $122 billion in total health care costs between 2011 and 2015 with the expansion of health centers, according to an analysis by the Geiger Gibson/RCHN Community Health Foundation Research Collaborative at the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services.

“In our waiting rooms I witness the value of having a health care home,” said Jeraldine Weston, secretary of the Cassopolis Family Clinic Board of Directors.

“When people have a place to go for regular care, they use it and stay healthy, avoiding costly emergency department treatment. We provide a range of services — primary care for all ages, obstetrics, phlebotomy, diabetic education and a wonderful Maternal Infant Health Program for expectant mothers and newborns. Our patients not only get the care they need, but they are treated as individuals, with dignity and respect. This is what health care should be and what we celebrate during National Health Center Week.”

“Celebrating America’s Health Centers: Turning the Vision into Reality” is the theme for NHCW.

This theme highlights the program’s 45-year record of providing high-quality, cost-effective health care, as well as the future of health care for the communities of Cassopolis and Niles, and across the nation.

Health centers will expand their capacity to double the number of patients to 40 million in five years under health reform, saving the U.S. health care system as much as $300 billion over the next 10 years by treating people before they get sick and require costlier care at a hospital.

National Health Center Week is sponsored by the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC).

To find out more about health centers and their role in health care reform, please visit www.nachc.com.

To find out more about National Health Center Week, visit www.healthcenterweek.org.