On September 9, 2011, the Health and Human Services Department announced it was offering $700 million in grants to build and upgrade community health centers, The Hill reported in its article, “HHS Announces $700M Grant Opportunity.”

This new round of grants, funded by the health care reform law, are meant to create thousands of new jobs at health centers across the country, which employed more than 130,000 people last year, according to HHS. The grants were announced the day after President Obama addressed Congress on the topic of job creation.

The majority of the grant money will be allocated to existing health centers to use for long-term expansion projects that will allow them to add new facilities and hire more staff. One hundred million dollars will be dedicated to short-term projects, The Hill reported.

The White House agreed to cut approximately $600 million from community health centers earlier this year.