Top 10 Federally Qualified Health Centers by visits

The U.S. government runs programs across the country to help address healthcare access and equity issues, such as critical access hospitals (CAHs) and federally qualified health centers (FQHCs). Qualification for these programs can be based on geographical location, income levels of the patient population, revenue sources, and proximity to other healthcare services, among other factors.

What is a federally qualified health center (FQHC)?

FQHCs are clinics that provide comprehensive primary and preventive care to patients of all ages and are required to accept all patients—regardless of their health insurance status or ability to pay.

What qualifications must FQHCs meet?

According to the Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA), some of the requirements for FQHCs include that they:

• Provide primary care and advanced care plans for patients of all ages
• Offer a sliding fee scale based on the patient’s ability to pay
• Governed by a board of directors that represents the patient population
• Operate in a medically under-served area

The Definitive Healthcare ClinicView product tracks more than 1,300 FQHCs and 16,000 FQHC clinic sites in the U.S.

Below, we list the top FQHCs in the U.S. by the highest number of total patient visits. Results in this analysis represent the most recent 12-month interval tracked in our database and does not include FQHC look-alikes or service sites.

Top 10 FQHCs by total patient visits

Fig. 1 Data is from the Definitive Healthcare ClinicView product and sourced from the January 2023 Medicare Cost Report release. Results in this analysis represent the most recent 12-month interval tracked in our database and does not include FQHC look-alikes or service sites. Accessed January 2023.

Which FQHCs have the most patient visits?

Omni Family Health, headquartered in Bakersfield, California, had nearly 7.7 million patient visits according to the most recent 12-month interval tracked in our database. Golden Valley Health Centers in Merced, California saw 3.7 million patients. Both FQHCs are also among the top facilities by total costs.

Nine of the top 10 FQHCs by total visits are in California and one is in New York. California is not only the most populated state in the U.S., but it also one of the states with the most physician groups, total hospitals, and is home to more than 175 FQHCs, the most of any state.

In addition, hospitals in the western U.S. have the highest percentage of payor mix coming from Medicaid. And California runs the largest state Medicaid programs, Medi-Cal, which likely contributes to the high patient visits at FQHCs.

How many patients visit FQHCs?

According to the most recent 12-month interval tracked in our database, there were nearly 86 million patient visits to FQHCs. This number can include the same patient visiting a facility more than one time over that timeframe.

Across the more than 1,300 FQHCs tracked in the ClinicView product, they average about 78,000 patient visits annually.

The top 10 FQHCs by total visits account for one-quarter of total FQHCs visits, or 21.6 million visits. They average nearly 2.2 million visits a year.

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