Community Health Centres: Issue Brief

Key takeaways

• Strengthening British Columbians’ access to primary care is a top health care priority in British Columbia. 
• The Community Health Centre (CHC) model emphasizes holistic, upstream approaches to care that are supported by strong interprofessional teams.  
• The CHC model has been shown to deliver superior health promotion, chronic disease prevention, and primary care services. 

Background

Strengthening primary health care delivery and increasing access to primary care services is a top health care priority in BC. Part of the primary care transformation strategy in BC includes the community health centre (CHC) model as they have been shown to deliver superior health promotion, chronic disease prevention, and primary care services.​¹​ CHCs do this by offering team-based, person-centred care that is focused not only helping people to live well with chronic disease and recover from illness, but CHCs also work with communities to achieve sustainable health care goals, develop healthy living habits, and focus on disease prevention.​²​ As defined by the Alliance for Healthier Communities, CHCs play a vital role in evolving our health care system to a place where we focus on ‘keeping people well, not just treating them when they are sick.’​²​ Furthermore, as CHCs are responsible to the community in which they are located, CHCs are motivated to meet the complex needs of the people they serve, and to respond with effective, integrative and culturally appropriate care based on the needs of the local population.​³​ 

According to the BC Association of Community Health Centres (BCACHC),​²​ CHCs in BC fall into two categories: 

• Not-for-profit corporations or cooperatives, which are governed by independently elected, community-based Boards of Directors that have organizational funding relationships with the Ministry of Health and regional health authorities. 
• CHCs that are operated directly through regional health authorities are governed by the structures within these authorities. 

Evidence 

While there are numerous types of CHCs, many of which are named differently in other jurisdictions (community clinics, cooperative health centres, Indigenous health access centres, etc.), five essential features are common to all CHCs. These include providing team-based primary care, providing diverse health and social services, emphasizing community engagement and participation, addressing social determinants of health, and advocating for health equity and systemic change.​^2,4​ This is known as an ‘upstream model’ whereby CHCs work to address the root causes of health inequity by increasing access to food, housing, education, and other necessary supports for individuals who live in rural and remote areas, and those who are members of at-risk, marginalized, or vulnerable communities.​²​ As a result, CHCs often focus on being proactive rather than reactive to the specific needs of their local community. Studies show that by implementing these types of team-based, person-centred approaches to care, patients not only receive improved care experiences but also improved health outcomes.​⁵​ 

The BC government is currently focusing on increasing access to CHCs throughout the province through the primary care network strategy. In 2020, the Ministry of Health and the BCACHC co-chaired the first meeting which brought together a group of 32 partners to discuss how to effectively incorporate CHCs into BC’s transforming health care system.​⁶​ In 2021, the BCACHC presented its 2021-2026 strategic report, whereby it lists approximately 31 member CHCs in BC, 80% of which are operational, and the remainder are in the planning steps.​⁷​ 

Nurses know that there is great value in providing wide-ranging team-based, integrative care services to all Canadians. Through a combination of primary care, health promotion and disease prevention, health care professionals working in CHC team-based models can offer additional proactive health, social, and mental health services to meet the needs specific to their communities. Nurses understand that by diversifying health services and focusing on how the social determinants of health can impact the health of a community, CHCs are well positioned to significantly reduce the strain on hospital and acute care systems with a longitudinal focus. Given CHCs are governed by and ultimately responsible to their local community, they are able to provide more customized, culturally diverse care to all community members of their region, including increased access to those who are at-risk, marginalized, and vulnerable in the community. Furthermore, patients and clients have improved access to diverse, wrap around services resulting in enhanced care experience resulting in improved health outcomes. 

Key considerations  

• Community health centres (CHCs) provide high-quality, integrative, culturally appropriate care through an interprofessional, team-based approach to care. 
• CHCs focus on five primary goals: providing effective team-based primary care, providing a wide array of health, social and mental health services, emphasizing community engagement through a community governance model, addressing the social determinants of health, and advocating for health equity and systemic change. 
• As CHCs are governed by the community in which they are located, they are responsible for meeting the specific health care needs of the community members, enabling them to provide customized, culturally appropriate care for all individuals. 
• Nurses understand that improved primary health care for British Columbians involves care that is provided through interprofessional teams that focus on health promotion, disease prevention and chronic disease management. This focus also includes addressing the social determinants of health that may impact and affect the community’s overall health and wellness. 
• The CHC model is an integral part of the primary care network transformation in BC, and more work must be done to create awareness for these effective team-based models to promote further expansion of CHCs to all parts of the province. 

Further reading and resources 

• BC Association of Community Health Centres (BCACHC): About CHCs​²​ 
• BCACHC: Find a BC CHC​⁸​ 
• BCACHC: 2021-2026 Strategic Plan​⁹​ 
• ImmunizeBC: Health Unit [CHC] Finder​¹⁰​ 
• Canadian Association of Community Health Centres: Healthy People, Healthy Communities (The Role of CHCs)​¹¹​ 

References 

1. Alliance for Healthier Communities. Community Health Centres. Accessed February 16, 2026. https://www.allianceon.org/community-health-centres

2. British Columbia Association of Community Health Centres. About CHCs. Accessed February 16, 2026. https://bcachc.org/about-chcs/

​3. CARES for Equitable Health. Building Ties with the Health System: A Briefing Document from the Community Alliance of Racialized Ethnocultural Services for Equitable Health. Published online 2020. Accessed February 16, 2026. https://mosaicbc.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/CARES-for-EH-Briefing-Document.pdf 

​4. Bhuiya AR, Scallan E, Alam S, Sharma K, Wilson MG. Rapid Synthesis: Identifying the Features and Impacts of Community Health Centres. Published online October 23, 2020. Accessed February 16, 2026. https://www.mcmasterforum.org/docs/default-source/product-documents/rapid-responses/identifying-the-features-and-impacts-of-community-health-centres.pdf?sfvrsn=234559d5_3 

​5. Canadian Association of Community Health Centres. About Community Health Centres. Accessed March 10, 2026. https://www.cachc.ca/about-chcs/ 

​6. British Columbia Association of Community Health Centres. Advocacy. Accessed February 16, 2026. https://bcachc.org/advocacy/ 

​7. British Columbia Association of Community Health Centres. Annual Report 2020: A New Day for CHCs in British Columbia. Published online 2020. Accessed February 16, 2026. https://bcachc.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/BCACHC_AnnualReport_2020.pdf 

​8. British Columbia Association of Community Health Centres. Our Members. Accessed February 20, 2026. https://bcachc.org/our-members/ 

​9. BC Association of Community Health Centres. 2021-2026 Strategic Plan. Accessed February 20, 2026. https://bcachc.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/BCACHC_Strategic-Plan_1.6.pdf 

​10. HealthLink BC. Find health services. Accessed February 20, 2026. https://www.healthlinkbc.ca/find-care/find-health-services#8/49.246/-123.116

​11. Canadian Association of Community Health Centres. The role of community health centres (CHCs). Accessed February 20, 2026. https://www.cachc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/2019-CACHC-CHC-Infographic-EN-FINAL.pdf