FITCHBURG - Community Health Connections opened its new $1 million ACTION Community Health Center at 130 Water St. a few weeks ago, centrally located on purpose to serve people in need.
The 7,400-square-foot facility is in the space formerly occupied by Market Basket in an L-shaped plaza on Water Street. Market Basket moved to the other end of the plaza a few years ago and split up the former market into five spaces. Community Health Connections is leasing space from the grocery company next to a fitness center and other businesses in the plaza.
Construction began July 31.
Fitchburg-based CHC provides medical and dental care to vulnerable populations, including the homeless, through its Accessible Comprehensive Treatment in Our Neighborhoods program, established in 2007, and hopes the new location will help get people to go to the doctor’s office instead of the emergency room.
Marcia Maglione Flynn, spokeswoman for CHC, said ACTION Health Services historically had downtown service locations in temporary, old and challenging spaces.
Moreover, CHC’s large health center on the old Burbank Hospital campus is not easily accessible for some people, sitting high on a hill with a steep access road.
CHC has expanded as much as possible within the Fitchburg Community Health Center at 326 Nichols Road, CHC officials said, and the new location is accessible and convenient for people in the neighborhood.
The Water Street location will be a permanent service site and allows for more providers and services, including medical, dental and behavioral health services.
Martha E. Rivera, operations manager at CHC, said the ACTION program focuses on the homeless and publicly housed populations in the area. Since opening Jan. 8 for clinical services the location has seen a lot of traffic, she said.
“We try to meet them where they are,” Ms. Rivera said. “In the neighborhood, there is a local shelter and a Market Basket where people tend to shop, neighborhoods where people are publicly housed, with lots of kids in the area. It is also along a bus route. The bus comes right to the door.”
The center also provides case management and health insurance enrollment services, as well as a drop-in service that provides a place for people to come in out of the cold, have a cup of coffee and toast and take a shower.
“We see infants to adults who can walk in, and we ensure they receive services,” Ms. Rivera said. “We also have slots for acute appointments, but we’re not an urgent care facility. You have to be a patient or become a patient.”
CHC received a $1 million grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration Infrastructure Investment Program for the project.
Last year, CHC provided 46,336 medical visits, 40,825 dental visits, 18,873 mental health visits and 3,397 optometry visits, according to Ms. Maglione Flynn.
Massachusetts community health centers provide high-quality primary care to nearly 1 million people - one out seven state residents – she said, support about 12,000 jobs and generate close to $1 billion in annual health care savings for the state.
Patients needing optometry, podiatry or substance abuse treatment services will be connected to CHC’s Fitchburg Community Health Center on the Burbank Campus. ACTION Community Health Center is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Services include primary medical care for all ages, preventive and restorative dental care, behavioral health counseling, and on-site laboratory. CHC, a federally-qualified health center serving the communities of North Central Massachusetts, is accessible to anyone regardless of income or insurance status.
Other sites include Fitchburg, Greater Gardner and Leominster community health centers.