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Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) have come a long way in the last decade. In the 1960s, there were only eight FQHCs in the U.S. By 2001, that number had jumped to 748 facilities at 4,128 locations around the country, serving 10 million patients. The number continues to grow along with federal funding for these organizations that serve such an important role in our healthcare delivery continuum. Today there are more than 1,400 organizations with 11,200 locations serving 29 million patients each year.

Graduating from medical school must feel like a huge achievement, but the massive debt most clinicians face after graduation must also feel like a huge burden. The average annual cost of attending medical school last year was about $37,000 per year for in-state students and nearly $61,000 for out-of-state attendees, according to U.S. News & World Report. It has now become standard in the competitive world of healthcare recruiting for health centers to offer some kind of signing bonus to attract physicians.

We are in the thick of a healthcare recruiting crisis. CNN reports that the U.S. will need to hire 2.3 million new healthcare workers by 2025 to keep up with the aging Baby Boomer population. Nurses, physicians, lab workers, and home health aides—we simply don’t have enough talent. Hiring teams must step it up to do a better job at filling positions in healthcare facilities around the country. How can recruiters pull off a supply when the demand is increasing so rapidly?

When discussing the idea of advocacy in relation to an FQHC, there are two primary avenues toward the definition of the term, “one who supports or promotes the interests of a cause or group.” Nurses serve as advocates for their patients while the FQHC itself can serve as an advocate for the lower-income and rural residents they serve. Let’s look at both avenues to determine how to create a culture of advocacy at your health center.