Public Health Centers Struggle to Keep Up

These last-resort centers coping with waves of new customers are looking forward to a jolt of new money from the $787 billion federal stimulus package signed into law last month.

Safety net providers struggle as a rule, but times are unusually tough. Most community health centers and public hospitals are temporarily maintaining their razor-thin operating margins, but say they can't keep it up for long. Many health departments - which play a leading role in preventive care and are heavily dependent on waning state revenues - are doing worse, eliminating thousands of jobs and shedding services.