LaShannon Spencer, chief executive officer of Community Health Centers of Arkansas, met with U.S. Sen. John Boozman, and U.S. Reps. Rick Crawford, French Hill and Steve Womack and thanked them for helping the organization obtain renewed funding.
There are more than 100 community health center sites in the Natural State, and they served more than 190,000 patients last year, Spencer said.
The centers were part of President Lyndon Johnson's "War on Poverty" and were intended to increase access to health care for the nation's neediest people.
The centers charge patients using a sliding scale that's based on their income and family size.
At least 42 percent of the funding for the centers comes from the federal government.
The bipartisan budget agreement, signed into law in February, will keep the money flowing for the next 18 months, Spencer added.
The budgetary uncertainty had been a cause of great concern for the health care providers and the areas they serve.
"If that funding had stopped, there were potential reductions in force or layoffs, and that would actually impact economic development within the communities but also impact patients' lives," she said.
Spencer's visit coincided with the National Association of Community Health Centers 2018 Policy and Issues Forum.