A recent Boston Globe article by Jessica Bartlett spotlighted Outer Cape Health Services (OCHS) and CEO Dr. Damian Archer as leading voices in addressing the growing financial threats to community health centers statewide.

Under Dr. Archer’s leadership, OCHS recently stabilized its finances after several challenging years. Yet, he warned that upcoming federal changes — including cuts to Medicaid, restrictions on immigrant eligibility, and revisions to the 340B prescription drug program — could have “catastrophic” consequences for community-based providers that serve more than one million of Massachusetts’ most vulnerable residents.

“We have to figure out radically and as quickly as possible how to make a shift, to prevent health centers from failing,” Dr. Archer told the Globe. “If there is no radical intervention by the Legislature and the state, there is no way all of us can survive this.”

The Globe report underscores that OCHS could lose up to $10 million annually by 2029 due to proposed changes in the 340B program — a vital funding source that currently provides about half of the organization’s $35 million annual revenue. Dr. Archer described the combined effect of policy shifts as “death by a thousand cuts,” emphasizing the urgent need for state-level solutions to sustain access to care on the Outer Cape and across Massachusetts.

Read the full story in the Boston Globe: Community health centers face bleak prognosis