ARIZONA ASSOCIATION OF COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTERS

About AACHC

Welcome to AACHC

Most Americans believe that all people should have immediate access to quality health care services. Community Health Centers in Arizona work each day to create that reality for more than 400,000 people, many of whom have not had access to essential primary care services in the past.

Existing barriers to primary health care services are all too familiar, but are steadily coming down. Lack of health insurance, inability to qualify for government health programs, poverty, and living in rural areas of Arizona where few medical professionals practice are some of the traditional obstacles we must overcome. Providing timely primary health care services reduces the incidence of major medical events that are costly to the national health care system and to each of us. Medical practitioners, health insurance companies, hospitals, and government agencies all realize that if spiraling health care costs are the problem, universal access to primary health care services is the solution. Early medical intervention and prevention are critical services in the nation's effort to confront and solve the health care cost crisis in the United States.

In this website you will learn what the Arizona Association of Community Health Centers and its member organizations are doing to improve access to primary health care services for both the medically underserved people of Arizona and many others who use Community Health Centers. The Association provides many services to its members. However, the primary goal of all Association staff members is to help Arizona Community Health Centers expand and grow in order to bring essential primary care health services to all medically underserved people in our state.

Thank you for your interest in the Association and its members. If we can assist you, please call on us at your convenience at (602) 253-0090.
Joseph S. Coatsworth,
Chief Executive Officer

Mr. Coatsworth is well known in the health care field, having served as Vice President for Government Relations for the Connecticut Hospital Association from 1979 until 2000, and Chief Operating Officer of a Connecticut Hospital Association subsidiary corporation from 1992-2000. In this capacity he represented all 31 Connecticut non profit hospitals at the state capitol in Hartford, CT. and Washington, D. C. for 21 years. He is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin, Madison and earned a Masterís in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Hartford, Hartford, Connecticut in 1994.

Mr. Coatsworth was earlier elected to five consecutive terms in the Connecticut House of Representatives where he served as Assistant Majority Leader (1977-1978) and Deputy Speaker of the Connecticut House. During this time Mr. Coatsworth was also an officer for Connecticutís largest commercial bank, and much later continued his financial career interests as a Financial Consultant with A.G. Edwards and Sons, Inc. in Hartford, Connecticut.

Mr. Coatsworth lives with his wife Karen, an attorney, in Scottsdale, Arizona. The couple has three grown children.

About AACHC

The Arizona Association of Community Health Centers (AACHC) is the Primary Care Association (PCA) for the State of Arizona. All states have one designated PCA in order to advance both the expansion of Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHC's) and advocate for the health care interests of the medically underserved and uninsured.

The AACHC as a result has many programs to assist member community health centers and the disadvantaged populations they serve. These programs vary from centralizing financial information and educational opportunities for members to the recent creation of an association sponsored and HRSA financed health care provider network for the uninsured in Maricopa County, (greater Phoenix) Arizona. More than 60% of the 5.9 million people in Arizona live in Maricopa County.

The Association, a non profit 501c3 tax exempt organization, also offers an array of other programs all designed to actively improve the health status of the indigent and medically underserved in our state. Arizona has one of the lowest per capita incomes in the United States at 38th in the United States. Arizona also has the third highest rate of uninsured (17.6%) people in the country, behind Texas with 26% and Louisiana. Arizona as a result also provides Medicaid benefits to more than one million residents of our state, nearly 18% of our population. Most Medicaid recipients or beneficiaries are under nine years of age.

Through association programs such as Outreach and Enrolment, we accelerate eligibility determination for government funded health programs; our community development program assists rural communities and our existing membership in creating or expanding medical services to underserved areas in order to create more access to health care.

The Association's physician recruitment program is a more recent venture to assist members in locating medical professionals for community health centers, while the advocacy program informs and educates state and federal public officials and other policy makers about the distinct health care resources required to provide equal access to health care services.

We proudly manage one of the most diverse array of health related programs in the United States. However, all staff and Board members share one common mission or goal. Simply stated, that is to improve the health status of individuals and families who need primary care services and may not have the financial resources, or health insurance to pay for them. Achieving this mission will result in a more productive workforce, a more equitable distribution of health care services and a much healthier Arizona for all of us. Equally important is the fact that America's spiraling health care costs will decrease only if primary and preventive healthy care services can truly become "universal."

We appreciate your "stopping by" our website for a view of our activities. Community Health Centers in Arizona, with more than one hundred primary care locations, continue to need support and resources to advance their mission. If you would like to help, call us for more information at 602-253-0090.