Erin Merrell

Charles Drew Health Center, Inc. (CDHC) was incorporated as a not-for-profit federally-qualified community health center in 1983. Since then, Charles Drew Health Center’s service delivery model has expanded and grown based in large measure on the expressed needs of patients, target area residents, and local collaborative partners through surveys, needs assessments, consumer forums and focus groups, and the Health Center’s 51% majority consumer governing board. Beyond the provision of primary health care for the five life cycles (prenatal, pediatric, adolescent, adult and geriatric), CDHC’s target population has been instrumental in advocating for the inclusion, expansion and/or addition of the following health care programs and services: Optometry; cardiology; obstetrics; STI testing, counseling, treatment and partner notification; HIV testing and counseling; breast and cervical cancer screening; fitness and nutrition counseling and support; in-house pharmacy services; family dentistry; patient advocacy; disabilities assistance; mental health services; interpreter services; the Omaha Healthy Start, infant mortality reduction program; Father’s For a Lifetime - responsible male involvement initiative; the expansion of the Health Center’s homeless health care program. True to its mission, Charles Drew Health Center seeks to provide quality comprehensive health care in a manner that acknowledges the dignity of the individual, the strength of the family and the supportive network of the community.