Does the Delivery of Primary Health Care Improve Birth Outcomes? Evidence from the Rollout of Community Health Centers
Community Health Centers (CHCs) deliver primary care to underserved populations by locating sliding-scale clinics in economically disadvantaged areas. We investigate how this policy affected infant health using the rollout of CHCs and a flexible event study framework with Vital Statistics natality data. We find that maternal access to CHCs improves infant health outcomes within seven years after their introduction. Treatment-on-the-treated estimates show a 25 to 42 gram increase in birth weight and a 9% to 16% reduction in the likelihood of low birth weight. These improvements in infant health can be explained by increased access to early prenatal care and reductions in maternal smoking.
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Copy CitationEsra Kose, Siobhan M. O'Keefe, and Maria Rosales-Rueda, "Does the Delivery of Primary Health Care Improve Birth Outcomes? Evidence from the Rollout of Community Health Centers," NBER Working Paper 30047 (2022), https://doi.org/10.3386/w30047.Download Citation
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Non-Technical Summaries
- Community health centers (CHCs) offer primary care services at discounted prices in economically disadvantaged communities. The first...
Published Versions
Esra Kose & Siobhan O’Keefe & Maria Rosales-Rueda, 2026. "Does the Delivery of Primary Healthcare Improve Birth Outcomes? Evidence from the Rollout of Community Health Centers," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 61(5), pages 1669-1705. citation courtesy of 
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