Direct Relief and National Association of Community Health Centers host 2026 Innovations Incubator pitches in Santa Barbara

India, Oct. 21 -- Direct Relief and the National Association of Community Health Centers hosted the 2026 Innovations Incubator at Direct Relief’s headquarters in Santa Barbara, California, on Oct. 9, 2026, bringing together eight health centers from across the United States to pitch “Y Combinator style” ideas to a panel of judges and other health centers for seed funding.

Event and participating health centers

The gathering was held as part of the National Association of Community Health Centers Innovation Gathering, supported by Direct Relief.

The eight health centers in the cohort were:

* AccessHealth of Richmond, Texas * Community Health Services, Inc., of Rochester, Minnesota * Family Health Center of Worcester, Massachusetts * Heal...