NACHC’s 2026 Workforce Conference to Bring Health Center Leaders Together to Strengthen the Primary Care Workforce

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Michael King at

BETHESDA, MD - April 27, 2026 - Community Health Center (CHC) leaders from around the country will gather in Las Vegas for the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC) 2026 Workforce Conference - the premier event for CHC executives and leaders focused on operations, finance, health, information technology, and clinical service - to learn from leading experts and industry partners at a pivotal moment for the primary care workforce. This year's focus underscores the importance of the integration and partnership between public health and community health and the need to ensure CHCs become leaders in high-tech at a time of great transformation in technology, digital health, and AI.

NACHC, which represents a CHC workforce of 330,000 across 1,512 health centers at over 17,000 service sites nationwide, leads the nation's largest primary care network providing affordable, comprehensive, and effective care to 52 million people - 1 in 7 Americans, including 1 in 3 in rural America. Over two days, attendees will learn practical tools and operational insights to strengthen the backbone of CHCs.

"Community health centers are caring for more patients with more complex needs than ever before, even as workforce shortages and financial pressures intensify," said Kyu Rhee, MD, MPP, President and CEO of NACHC. "From partnerships with public health to advancing high-tech, this conference is designed to equip health center leaders with the strategies, tools and partnerships they need to navigate and excel in an ever-changing health care landscape."

While treating 14% of the U.S. population at a cost of only 1%, an estimated $58 billion of the nation's total health care spending, CHCs save lives and save dollars. This year's conference will highlight the innovative ways CHC leaders continue to do more with less while improving patient outcomes. Featured speakers include public health, workforce, and health technology leaders:

• Lori Freeman, CEO, National Association of County and City Health Officials

• Joseph Kanter, MD, MPH, CEO, Association of State and Territorial Health Officials

• Debra Lubar, PhD, President, The Milbank Memorial Fund

• Joseph Sharfstein, MD, Vice Dean for Public Health, Practice and Community Engagement & Distinguished Professor of the Practice, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

• Candice Chen, MD, MPH, Acting Associate Administrator, Health Workforce, Health Resources and Services Administration, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

• David Rhew, MD, Global Chief Medical Officer and VP of Healthcare, Health & Life Sciences, Microsoft

• Suzanne Cohen, MPH, Senior Director, Population Health, Health Federation of Philadelphia

• Andrew Hamilton, RN, BSN, MS, Chief Information Officer, AllianceChicago

• Karen Serrago, Chief Information Officer, Community Technology Cooperative

• Thomas Keane, MD, MBA, Assistant Secretary for Technology Policy, National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

The 2026 NACHC Workforce Conference will feature dozens of educational sessions organized around NACHC's strategic priorities to position CHCs as the employer, provider and partners of choice for primary care.

CHCs leaders are driving innovative solutions to tackle the workforce, policy, and digital challenges health centers face when delivering whole-person, community-based care. For example, Bloomberg Fellows from NACHC's partner of choice Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health will be featured as emerging health center leaders. NACHC is also pleased to invite CHC executives, leaders and providers to submit data-driven manuscripts for two upcoming Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved supplements examining how health technologies and policy innovations impact CHCs. Submission guidelines and deadlines will be posted soon here.

The conference is taking place April 28-29 at Caesars Place, Las Vegas.

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About NACHC

NACHC's mission is to champion Community Health Centers delivering affordable, effective, comprehensive primary care that is community-driven and improves health for all. For more information, visit https://www.nachc.org.