Date of Award

2007

Embargo Period

8-1-2024

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Health Administration

College

College of Health Professions

First Advisor

Andrea W. White

Second Advisor

Ann Altmeyer

Third Advisor

Charlene Pope

Abstract

The federal requirement that 51 percent of the governing boards of federally funded community health centers must be users of the health center was originally intended to insure that the community served had a voice in the services provided. This qualitative study attempted to determine the perceptions of key stakeholders of the impact of the requirement on the effectiveness of governing boards, as well as how boards develop and measure effectiveness. Open-ended, semi-structured interviews with five CEOs and five Board Chairs revealed few concerns about the challenges of complying with the requirement. Board training in South Carolina appears to be meeting the needs of the centers represented. The greatest need identified by this study was the lack of evaluation tools specifically designed to measure the governance functions of community health center boards.

Rights

All rights reserved. Copyright is held by the author.

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