Assessing the capacity of Iowa's community health centers to respond to the opportunities and challenges of the Affordable Care Act.

Purpose: To determine the current and future capacity of Iowa CHCs as the ACA is implemented.

Methods: We conducted an online survey among executive directors of all 13 Iowa CHCs, asking about current capacity and demand for services, projected increases in capacity and demand, and organizational readiness for change.

Results: Our survey response rate was 84.6%. Respondents reported shortages of physicians (72.7%), nurse practitioners (64%) and registered nurses (64%), and most CHCs attempting to recruit physicians (80%) indicated difficulty doing so. All respondents anticipate that the ACA will increase their provider needs and nearly 73% of CHCs anticipate an increase in the size of their patient population. Only 50% of CHCs agree that they have the resources to respond to the ACA’s challenges.

Conclusion: Community health centers are embracing the opportunities before them and are willing to meet the challenges, but resource constraints may limit their ability to do so.