The Network member sites collectively provide services to over 100,000 patients in 28 of West Virginia's 55 counties each year, with nearly 400,000 patient encounters annually. Our member health centers provided over $40 million in health care services last year, with 70% of this care to Medicare, Medicaid and uninsured patients.

According to national studies, community health centers provide a cost-effective source of health care to traditionally under-served rural areas. These studies found that, for Medicaid patients treated in community health centers:

• they were 22% less likely to be hospitalized for a potentially avoidable condition than those treated elsewhere (Medical Care, Vol. 39, No 6, 2001).
• the cost of care was 30-34% less than for those receiving care elsewhere;
• the cost for medications was 26-40% lower; ° the cost for diabetic care was 35% lower; 
• the cost of asthmatic care was 20% lower (Center for Health Policy Studies, Final Report, November 1994); and
• these patients were 19% less likely to use the ER (ACSC II, 2003)

The purpose of the Network is to build upon the long-tradition of excellence in rural family health care for which the members of the Network have been recognized and to:

• coordinate, integrate and develop resources to facilitate growth of member health centers, thereby increasing access to care for underserved areas;
• provide training and leadership to encourage excellence in the delivery of comprehensive community and preventive health care; and
• expand the clinical ability of member health centers to meet the health care needs of the communities they serve, including focused disease management, care coordination, patient self-management and education services.

We changed our name to the Community Health Network of West Virginia to better reflect our role in integrating services of a number of community health resources.

We will continue to work closely with our member organizations to develop strategic relationships with other organizations to strengthen our collective ability to improve the health of our communities.

The Network is governed by a Board of Directors consisting of one representative from each participating health center and by an Executive Committee consisting of five members elected by the Board. The operations of the Network are managed by the Chief Executive Office and Network staff. The staff reports to the CEO and the CEO reports to the Executive Committee and Board.