A Historic New Chapter for NeighborHealth Center
Dear Friends of NeighborHealth Center,
We are thrilled to share some incredibly exciting news about the future of NeighborHealth Center and our ability to serve our growing community.
NeighborHealth Center has officially become a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC).
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, through the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), recently announced a historic $102 million investment to expand access to primary care across the country. This investment, the first major expansion of the Health Center Program since 2019, will support 158 health centers, 415 new sites, and expand access to care for nearly 1 million additional people nationwide.
NeighborHealth Center is honored to be one of the organizations selected for this investment.
As part of this expansion, NeighborHealth Center has been awarded $650,000 in New Access Point funding for the coming year. Even more significantly, this award moves NeighborHealth Center from an FQHC Look-Alike to a federally funded health center, one of the most significant milestones in our organization’s history.
Expanding Access to Care
This award comes at an exciting time for NeighborHealth Center.
Our community continues to grow, and so does the need for accessible, high-quality healthcare. This new federal investment will strengthen our ability to serve more of our neighbors and continue expanding access to primary care and other essential health services.
It also supports our plans to establish an additional clinic in Wake County, expanding NeighborHealth Center’s reach into another underserved area of our community. The New Access Point program is specifically designed to help health centers bring primary healthcare services to more people and communities.
Becoming a federally funded FQHC also strengthens NeighborHealth Center in ways that extend well beyond the initial $650,000 award: Our new status provides many more opportunities associated with the federal Health Center Program.
Together, these resources can help us build a stronger and more sustainable organization while allowing us to invest more deeply in what matters most: our patients and their access to excellent care.
What Isn’t Changing
While our federal designation is changing, who we are is not.
NeighborHealth Center remains an independent, community-based nonprofit health center committed to our mission to serve Christ by loving our neighbors through excellent, compassionate, and accessible healthcare.
That mission has guided NeighborHealth Center from the beginning, and it will continue to guide every decision we make.
We will continue welcoming patients with Medicaid, Medicare, commercial insurance, and those who qualify for our sliding fee scale. We will continue working to remove barriers to healthcare. And we will continue caring for each person who walks through our doors as our neighbor.
Becoming federally funded also does not eliminate our need for community support. The federal funding we have received will help us expand our capacity and reach more patients, but it does not cover the full cost of providing care, particularly as we serve a growing number of uninsured neighbors and provide care that is not reimbursed.
The generosity of our donors, churches, businesses, foundations, and community partners will remain essential. Philanthropic support helps bridge the gap between what it costs to provide excellent healthcare and what is reimbursed, allowing NeighborHealth Center to continue saying “yes” to neighbors who need care regardless of their financial circumstances.
Federal funding doesn’t change our mission or replace the generosity of our community—it strengthens our ability to build upon it and expand our impact.
The Next Chapter
There is still significant work ahead. Our initial $650,000 award covers August 1, 2026 through July 31, 2027, and future federal funding is not automatically guaranteed. Continued funding will depend on our performance, compliance with Health Center Program requirements, availability of federal funding, and successful participation in HRSA’s future Service Area Competition process.
But today, we are celebrating.
This milestone would not have been possible without the extraordinary support of our staff, donors, churches, healthcare partners, community organizations, volunteers, Board of Directors, and friends who have believed in NeighborHealth Center and invested in this mission.
You helped build the foundation that made this moment possible, and your partnership will be just as important in the chapter ahead.
Thank you for being part of the NeighborHealth Center story. We are incredibly excited about this next chapter and grateful to continue this work alongside you.
Our mission hasn’t changed. Our opportunity to live it out has never been greater, and we still need our community alongside us to make it possible.
With gratitude,
Daniel Lipparelli, MBA
Chief Executive Officer
