On April 11, 2005, the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced plans to award grant funding to Robert Clark Family Health Center for the development of a community health center.  The $650,000 grant will bring affordable comprehensive primary, oral and behavioral health care to the residents of Fairfax and Osage County.  Section 330 community health centers (CHCs) began as part of LBJ’s Great Society Program in 1966.  The public-private partnerships help communities establish a preventive health care system that works for their unique situation and serves all residents including the uninsured. 

Four core tenets of the CHC program are that (1) federal resources be targeted to communities with the most significant health care access needs, (2) services be made available to all residents regardless of ability to pay based on a sliding fee scale tied to income, (3) services include preventive and primary health care, enabling (transportation and translation) and health education, and (4) health centers must be directed by a governing board of which 51% are patients of the center to ensure they be responsive to the needs in their communities.