Accessing Federal Funding for Health Center and Community Resilience

Climate change is a threat to public health and presents dangers to the healthcare system. Floods, fires, storms, and extreme temperatures can limit a health center’s ability to remain operational during an emergency. However, on-site renewable energy, weatherproofing, and other resiliency measures protect health centers against environmental threats, help them stay open during and after disasters, and save money on energy bills. Energy efficiency measures also create cleaner, greener health centers, leading the way to a sustainable future for patients within the community and beyond.

The following two toolkits, created by the Medical Society Consortium on Climate and Health in partnership with the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC), are designed to help health centers implement resilience measures and support their patients in doing the same.

The first focuses on health centers themselves, outlining the importance of resilience measures, the associated financial savings, and information about the CHARGE partnership: a collaboration between NACHC, Collective Energy, and Capital Link, designed to support health centers in accessing IRA funding.

The second focuses on health center community relationships and provides patient-facing resources on home electrification and weatherproofing. It also supports providers in having important conversations about home resilience measures and helps guide patients to resources on Rewiring.com, a site meant to help homeowners and renters access IRA funds.