Q&A with Dr. John Hatch, Health Center Pioneer Health Centers On The Front Lines

In this episode, we hear from Dr. John W. Hatch about the history of Community Health Centers and how it intersects with the Civil Rights Movement. Dr. Hatch is a professor emeritus of public health at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and a legend in the health center movement. He was instrumental in establishing one of the nation's first community health centers in Mound Bayou, Mississippi, which was an all African American town founded in the 1860s.

Dr. Hatch pioneered approaches to addressing social drivers of health and describes building latrines, installing window screens, and starting a farm cooperative to provide affordable, nutritious food to the community. He explains how community input was part of the health center model from the very beginning. He also calls for more activism and policy change to address the challenges facing health centers and their patients today.

Featured in this Episode

Benjamin Money Jr
Senior VP, NACHC
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-money-6133436
Profile: https://www.ncdhhs.gov/about/leadership/benjamin-money

Dr. John W. Hatch
Professor Emeritus of Public Health
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hil

Chapters

00:00 Introduction
01:31 The changing of terms
02:35 The social drivers and how to address them
12:30 Moving in the area of environmental health
15:18 Establishing the Co-op
16:49 Adding benefits like non-medical things
21:18 Envisioning what Health Centers could become
25:12 Continuing the legacy
29:42 Addressing racial inequality
34:18 Communities addressing the public health issues
45:54 The incredible community health workers
52:54 The communities of today
56:05 Giving Thanks

Produced by Heartcast Media.
www.heartcastmedia.com