About Community and Migrant Health Centers

Signed into law on September 25, 1962, by President John F. Kennedy, the Migrant Health Act established the authorization for delivery of primary and supplemental health services to migrant farmworkers. The Migrant Health Program is currently funded under the Consolidated Health Care Act of 1996 and administered by the Office of Minority and Special Populations, Bureau of Primary Health Care, in the Health Resources and Services Administration, Department of Health and Human Services.

Below is a drop down menu that lists all 50 states and Puerto Rico. When you select a state you will be given a list of all the migrant health centers and their satellites in that state. This list will include the migrant health center's name, address, phone number, and the name of the migrant contact in that health center when possible.

Note to Migrant Health Center Staff: The information in this directory can be updated at any time.You can update or modify your center's contact information, or add additional satellite locations by clicking on the "add/modify information" or "add additional satellite(s)" buttons underneath your center's information.

There are 159 federally funded migrant health center entities, all but 15 of which are jointly funded Community and Migrant Health Centers, and those 15 are generally known as "Voucher Programs". Most of the migrant health centers are private non for profit corporations owned and operated by community based organizations, (CBOs), and some are operated by governmental entities such as state and local health departments. One unique feature of the Community and Migrant Health Center legislation that has made the network so strong and enduring is the mandate that the governing boards of these entities be composed of a 51% majority of consumers of the health center's services.

Collectively these health centers operate more than 700 satellite service sites, and comprise a loosely knit network of independent organizations serving migrant and seasonal farmworkers. They range in size from the smallest, located in frontier and rural areas serving small groups of farmworkers that are in the area for periods as short as 6 weeks, and providing services through the use of payment vouchers that authorize care to be provided by local area private providers, to large jointly funded Community and Migrant Health Centers in high migrant impact areas with tens of thousands of farmworkers served within one health center corporation. Because all farmworkers deserve access to care, regardless of whether they live in densely or sparsely populated areas it is required that all health centers provide services appropriate to the needs of their communities.