Today we’re excited to announce that this year the Florida Association of Community Health Centers (FACHC) honored Direct Relief with the 2012 Community Health Partnership Award. Direct Relief USA Program Manager, Katie Lewis, attended the FACHC’s annual meeting in Ponte Vedra, Florida to accept the award.

Each year the FACHC recognizes an individual or organization that has advanced health services for the underserved through financial, material, or voluntary service to community health organizations. According to FACHC President and CEO, Andrew Behrman, Direct Relief has “…made a major positive impact with many low income and unemployed clients during these very difficult economic times.”

Direct Relief began supporting Florida’s safety net of community health centers in 2009, at the height of the H1N1 flu epidemic, by providing personal protective equipment and Tamiflu to providers. Since 2009, Direct Relief has provided 29 FACHC members with over $8 million (wholesale) worth of medical material aid. Of the 29 health center partners, 12 participate in Direct Relief’s Hurricane Preparedness Program, five in the Roche Diabetes Donation Program, and one in the Replenishment Program.

State Primary Care Associations play a key role in helping Direct Relief USA identify new partners, communicate donation programs to members, and connect to clinics and health centers during times of emergency. FACHC represents 46 Federally Qualified Health Centers operating over 300 delivery sites throughout Florida who treat more than 1 million people annually.