Community health center

A healthcare center, health center, or community health center is one of a network of clinics staffed by a group of general practitioners and nurses providing healthcare services to people in a certain area. Typical services covered are family practice and dental care, but some clinics have expanded greatly and can include internal medicine, pediatric, women’s care, family planning, pharmacy, optometry, laboratory testing, and more. In countries with universal healthcare, most people use the healthcare centers. In countries without universal healthcare, the clients include the uninsured, underinsured, low-income or those living in areas where little access to primary health care is available. In the Central and East Europe, bigger health centers are commonly called policlinics (not to be confused with polyclinics). Community Health Centers (CHCs) have existed in Ontario for more than 40 years. The first established CHC in Canada was Mount Carmel Clinic in 1926. Most CHC's consist of an interdisciplinary team of health care providers using electronic health records. In Quebec, local community services centers known by their French acronym, CLSC, offer routine health and social services, including consultations with general practitioners with and without an appointment. In China there are, as of 2011, 32,812 community health centers and 37,374 township health centers. Puskesmas Puskesmas (Pusat Kesehatan Masyarakat, Community Health Center) are government-mandated community health clinics located across Indonesia. They are overseen by the Indonesian Ministry of Health and provide healthcare for the population on sub-district level. The concept was designed by Johannes Leimena, the third Indonesian Minister of Health, and be realized by G. A. Siwabessy in New Order era. Community and preventive health programs formed another component of Indonesia's health system. There is approximately 9718 Puskesmas around the country according to the Ministry of Health of Indonesia.