Original article can be found at: https://www.readingeagle.com/
The Berks Community Health Center’s boldest move yet is just about ready.
For years, the federally qualified health center has been on the growth track, adding hundreds of patients a month at its three locations in Reading. It’s also brought on new specialists and services to help people with significant health problems who often struggle to get the care they need.
“As the need grows in the community, we respond to those needs,” said health center CEO Mary Kargbo.
On Wednesday, Kargbo was standing in the former Giant supermarket on Rockland Street. The store closed in 2015, and its 37,500 square feet of space has sat vacant ever since.
Starting next week, the former supermarket will make its debut as the fourth federally qualified health center in the city.
“It’s been really great to transform it into this,” Kargbo said.
In June, the Berks Community Health Center’s construction team began work to convert the expansive space into its latest location to serve patients in Reading and beyond. One side of the building will feature 40 rooms for medical and pediatric exams. The other will house dental, optometry, podiatry and other speciality care.
The primary care side of the building will open next week, and the specialty care portion will be ready by mid-November. The site’s dental space will open sometime in December, officials said.
Lindsey Miller remembers shopping at the Giant on Rockland Street as a kid and said it’s been exciting to see the project come together.
“It’s neat to see it as an adult,” said Miller, the Berks Community Health Center’s project coordinator/facilities manager. “We used to buy the ice cream over there and now it’s completely different.”
New spot a big step
For the health center, the new facility is a big step, as the new space is triple the size of its Penn Street location. The health center has locations in the 1000 block of Liggett Avenue and in the 400 block of North Second Street.
Kargbo said the goal has always been for patients to use the health center as their primary care site instead of heading to the emergency room for treatment that costs more and doesn’t address their long-term health problems.
“A lot of this is behavior change and having them come to us,” she said. “I think more and more people are getting to understand.”
With its federally qualified status, the health center must take care of all patients, regardless of their ability to pay. The center receives annual federal funding and other incentives that help it care for those living near poverty.
Six years after its founding, the health center has a $12 million budget and serves about 12,000 patients.
Between its four locations, it could employ about 240 people and serve 19,000 patients by the end of next year, Kargbo said.
“I don’t think when we started with our first site that we could have predicted this much rapid growth,” said Patricia Giles, chairwoman of the health center’s board. “It’s really a result of a large collaboration of people and institutions who have worked together.”
Giles said the center is still putting together its three-year strategic plan, but it’s safe to assume that growth will continue, whether it’s through additional locations or services.
“Providing access to quality health care is fundamental to everyone’s future,” she said.
Giant and beyond
The former Giant provides the health center with all the space it needs.
There’s a room that will be used for community meetings. There’s space for medication-assisted-treatment to help people with opioid use disorders. Portions of the building will be leased to Quest Diagnostics for lab services, Pivot Physical Therapy and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children.
Kargbo said the former grocery store provided enough space to provide comprehensive care, and it’s in a perfect location for walkers and people who take the bus.
She said it will take about a year to get the center fully up and running. Recruitment of physicians and other providers is a top priority, she said.
After that, the center will begin to look at areas outside the city that could benefit from having a federally qualified health center.
“We’re here for Berks County, so we need to be looking at other sites as well,” she said.
As she stood in the lobby of the former grocery store, Kargbo expressed excitement about the future.
“We want to provide services to as many people as we can,” Kargbo said. “We’ve got a lot more room for patients.”
Contact Matthew Nojiri: 610-371-5062 or mnojiri@readingeagle.com.
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