08/07/2026
The community health center movement in the United States began in 1965 as part of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s War on Poverty. The first community health centers, originally known as Neighborhood Health Centers, were established in Dorchester, Massachusetts, and Mound Bayou, Mississippi, representing both urban and rural communities. From the beginning, the movement was grounded in community engagement, self-determination, and local governance, with health centers designed and tailored to meet the unique needs of the populations they served.
That same commitment to community-driven, accessible health care took root in Alabama in 1968 with the founding of Health Services, Inc. in Montgomery. Health Services, Inc.; Franklin Primary Health Center, Inc. in Mobile; Quality of Life Health Services, Inc. in Gadsden; Rural Health Medical Program, Inc. in Selma; and Bayou La Batre Area Health Development Board in Irvington would go on to become the founding members of the Alabama Primary Health Care Association.
Nearly six decades later, the ideals established in 1965 remain at the heart of Alabama’s community health centers. What has evolved dramatically is the way those ideals are put into practice. Today’s health centers harness electronic medical record platforms, data analytics, health information technology, and an ever-expanding array of emerging technologies to improve quality, strengthen outcomes, and better serve their communities.
The result is a modern, dynamic, and innovative primary health care system, one that remains firmly rooted in its original mission: ensuring that Alabama’s medically underserved communities have access to high-quality, affordable, and community-centered care.
