Community Health Service Inc. (CHSI) announced the community health center has joined the Federally Qualified Health Center Urban Health Network (FUHN), a Minnesota-based nonprofit that brings together 11 community health clinics into a Clinically Integrated Network (CIN) to deliver efficient and affordable coordinated care to patients. Similarly, CHSI is a network of community clinics in Minnesota and North Dakota, with clinics in Moorhead, Rochester, Willmar, and Grafton, and a victim advocacy services office in Crookston.
Community Health Services, Inc. is joining the FUHN Community Care Network to benefit from shared service arrangements and the clinically integrated network’s ability to negotiate contracts with payers and other groups such as value-based care arrangements.
“Our board of directors was impressed by the legal structure FUHN has developed over the past year and the advantages a CIN offers our clinics and patients,” said CHSI Chief Executive Officer Rhonda Eastlund. “We believe we will see significant savings in our first year working with FUHN because of shared services, improved transitions of care, and negotiated contracts with payers to improve outcomes.
The clinics that comprise CHSI, and all FUHN clinics, are federally qualified health centers (FQHC) meaning they receive funding from the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration Health Center Program to provide primary care services in underserved areas. FQHCs, also called “safety net clinics,” offer comprehensive primary and preventive care such as medical, dental, and mental health/substance abuse services to people of all ages and backgrounds regardless of their ability to pay or health insurance status.
CHSI was founded in Moorhead in 1973, as Migrant Health Service Inc., a collection of small, seasonal, nurse-managed clinics that provided healthcare services for migrant and seasonal farmworkers and their families. Due to the growing need for healthcare services, year-round clinics were established in CHSI’s current locations. The name changed 10 years ago in response to the shifting demographics of CHSI patients and communities.
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