How Do Local Health Care Businesses Help Their Community?

When you think of local businesses, you may think of markets and restaurants, but these businesses can also include less commonly recognized establishments, such as health centers like Northwest Community Health Center in Libby, MT. Over the years, this local health center has benefited its community in numerous ways. Here are just a few ways that local health care services impact your community.

Whether it's a market, an artisan shop, or a health center, any local business is sure to be a boon for the local economy. They provide jobs, unique services, and space for residents to come together. Local health care businesses are also able to build trust in a way that bigger chains and companies can't, and they show young people in the community that there is a bright and attainable future in the industry. 

In 2021, Northwest Community Health Center created 126 jobs, including 62 in the health center itself and 64 elsewhere throughout the community. This contributed to an economic impact of $17 million and nearly $2 million in taxes. 

Local health centers have a unique opportunity to identify those most in need in the community and provide services to benefit them. Health services run can target the conditions most likely to afflict the local populations and fight for representation and establishment for marginalized groups. 

Providing help to those in need is one of Northwest Community Health Center's main goals, and in 2021, two-thirds of their patients were from low-income families. 

No one knows a community's needs better than the community itself, and health care services run by locals can fill niches that would be invisible to others. Rather than relying on metrics and corporate oversight to determine what services to provide, these businesses can adapt and respond quickly to changes.