Rep. Summer Lee Visits Hilltop Community Health Center, Calls for Urgent Federal Funding
PITTSBURGH, PA – OCTOBER 23, 2025 — Congresswoman Summer L. Lee (PA-12) visited the Hilltop Community Health Center, a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC), to meet with staff, tour the facility, and discuss the urgent need for stable federal funding for community health centers serving Western Pennsylvania’s most vulnerable residents. During the visit, Congresswoman Lee received an award from the health center’s leadership recognizing her advocacy for equitable access to quality healthcare.
The visit comes as the ongoing government shutdown continues to create uncertainty for critical healthcare providers across the country, including FQHCs like Hilltop Community Health Center and its partner sites within the Three Rivers Alliance of Community Health Centers (TRACHC) network. These centers rely on federal grants and Medicaid reimbursements to provide care to tens of thousands of low-income patients in the region.
“Community health centers like Hilltop are the beating heart of our communities — they are where our neighbors go when they need help, whether they can afford it or not,” said Rep. Lee. “These centers are often the only place a working parent can bring a sick child without worrying about the bill, where a senior can get the medication that keeps them alive, where someone struggling with addiction or mental health finally finds care and compassion instead of judgment. They are literal lifelines — not luxuries — for millions of people across this country.”
Lee continued, “My colleagues across the aisle don’t bat an eyelash at slashing healthcare funding because they’ve become completely disconnected from the realities of the people they were elected to serve. They play politics with people’s health because they’ve never had to live with the consequences. But I have, and I see every day what it means when a family loses access to care. That’s why Republicans must roll back the cuts they made to Medicaid this past summer and why I’m fighting to protect and fully fund our community health centers. When they lose funding, it’s our neighbors’ lives and livelihoods on the line.”
“Congresswoman Lee understands the heart of the community health center mission, that everyone deserves affordable healthcare,” said Richard Rinehart Chief Executive Officer of Cornerstone Care, Inc. “We are so grateful for her support.”
FQHCs serve nearly 34 million patients each year nationwide, including more than 81,000 patients across TRACHC’s 48 sites and mobile units in Western Pennsylvania. These centers deliver essential services such as preventive care, dental care, behavioral health, chronic disease management, and substance use treatment.
In Pennsylvania’s 12th Congressional District, FQHCs are a cornerstone of the healthcare safety net. Nearly 44% of their patients rely on Medicaid, and many more are uninsured or underinsured. With federal funding in jeopardy and Medicaid work requirements looming, centers face growing strain on their ability to maintain staffing levels and deliver care.
Background on Federally Qualified Health Centers
Federally Qualified Health Centers are community-based nonprofits funded by HRSA to serve uninsured, underinsured, and low-income individuals. Services are offered on a sliding scale, ensuring care is accessible to all regardless of ability to pay.
Nationally:
- FQHCs serve nearly 34 million patients annually.
- 64% of patients are people of color.
- 59% are publicly insured, 18% are uninsured.
- They employ over 326,000 full-time staff at 17,000+ sites.
- Medicaid covers about half of all FQHC patients, representing 42% of their total revenue.
Community Health Centers are the healthcare home for many of America’s historically underserved communities, including:
- 1.5 million people experiencing homelessness
- 10 million children
- 428,312 veterans
- 4.1 million patients over the age of 65
- Over 6 million uninsured people
- Over 20.5 million people with low income
- Over 10 million rural residents
Without reliable federal funding, FQHCs face staffing cuts, reduced operating hours, and barriers to essential care — threatening access for millions of working families nationwide.
Photos from the visit can be found here.
Congresswoman Summer Lee serves on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and the Committee on Education and Workforce. Since taking office in January 2023, she has delivered historic levels of federal investment totaling over $2.4 Billion brought back to Western PA, including over $580 million for infrastructure, over $110 million for affordable transit, over $500 million to keep clean energy manufacturing at home in Pennsylvania, and over $55 million on clean energy efforts in and around schools to help keep our kids and communities safe. These investments will help improve Western Pennsylvania’s infrastructure and transit, ensure cleaner air and drinking water, lower housing costs, fund research institutions, fuel clean manufacturing, fund STEM innovation and entrepreneurship, boost workforce development, and create thousands of good paying union jobs. Lee and her team have also delivered casework and constituent services to over 3,000 constituents with issues ranging from helping our seniors and disabled community access Medicare and social security to helping folks secure housing and helping families with immigration support and passports.