Roger Marshall: “Thank you so much for sharing this moment with us. You know, one of my mentors here on the Hill has a saying that some…”

“Thank you so much for sharing this moment with us. You know, one of my mentors here on the Hill has a saying that some Senators come here to make a point and others come to make a difference. The first time Senator Sanders and I sat down together, he said: Roger, do you want to make a difference? We have worked so hard on this issue together, developing rapport, confidence in each other, in our staff--they have all done an incredible job--as we try to get through this riddle from healthcare challenges throughout this great Nation. I think as both of us travel back to our home States of Vermont and Kansas, what we found is that not everybody has meaningful, affordable access to primary care. So we went out and tried to find the best actors, what is the best outcome, who is making a dent? And I think we both discovered that our community health centers were doing a great job. They had taken many pilot programs, and they were improving them. I am not sure what Senator Sanders would talk about some of his, but what I saw was this meeting patients where they are a concept, integrating all the different elements of primary care--not just your blood pressure, not just your Accu-Chek, but also your mental health. Dental needs, as well, are just a few more things we are seeing being integrated into the community health centers--nutrition coaching, something that has seldom been done in clinics before. So I think we saw these community health centers as doing a great job.…”