Stimulus provides help for the uninsured

Federal stimulus funding is helping community health centers nationwide deal with an influx of newly uninsured patients. The centers will be able to serve 2.8 million new patients this year, thanks to funding distributed in March from the stimulus package that Congress passed earlier this year, according to the Department of Health and Human Services. That money includes $155 million for the construction of 126 new health centers and $338 million to help 1,100 centers expand services or keep longer hours, says Mary Wakefield, head of HHS's Health Resources and Services Administration.