Health Center Leader Inducted Into the Grassroots Hall of Fame

Vincent A. Keane, President and CEO of Unity Health Care Inc. (Unity) , in Washington, D.C. has been inducted into the Grassroots Hall of Fame for the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC).� Grassroots Hall of Fame members have made lasting contributions to insuring the creation, survival and strength of Community Health Centers and the Health Center Movement through their dedicated and tireless efforts over many years. Mr. Keane is to be presented the Hall of Fame Award at the 2016 NACHC Policy and Issues Forum in Washington, D.C., an event attended by more than 2,000 health center leaders from around the country.
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"Vincent has been a passionate advocate on behalf of health centers and the movement would not be what it is today without his dedication, skilled leadership and tireless energy," said Tom Van Coverden, President and CEO of NACHC. "Vincent has been on Capitol Hill many times carrying the health center message, and rallying public support for funding. We're deeply appreciative of his commitment, hard work and leadership in advocacy."
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In addition to his executive duties at Unity, Keane is actively involved in the development of national healthcare policy as it addresses the needs of the medically underserved and poverty communities. He is regularly called upon to testify before the City Council of the District of Columbia.�

Since 1969, when Keane came to the United States, he has been involved in the non-profit sector including work in the Catholic Diocese of Arlington providing social services and pastoral care within several parish communities.

From 1987 to 1990 he served as Director of Development for NACHC. In 1990 he became Executive Director of Health Care for the Homeless Project (HCHP) Washington, D.C., which later became Unity Health Care, Inc. Currently, Vince serves on the Board of Directors of the D.C. Primary Care Association and the Governing Board of the National Health Care for the Homeless Council (NHCHC).

Unity, which serves more than 108,000 patients in the Washington, D.C. area, is part of a national network of Community Health Centers. The concept of health centers started more than fifty years ago as a daring experiment in President Lyndon B. Johnson's War on Poverty campaign, which led to the opening of the nation's first health centers in Boston and the Mississippi Delta. Today, that pilot project has evolved into the largest and most successful primary healthcare system in the United States.

Health centers serve more than 24 million Americans (1 in 14 people) who live in more than 9,200 rural and urban communities. Health centers also save the U.S. healthcare system more than $24 billion every year in reduced overall costs from preventable hospitalizations and avoidable emergency room visits.