New Building Allows Bed-Stuy Health Center To Double-Up Patients

April 11, 2012 Brooklyn Eagle Staff

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BEDFORD-STUIYVESANT — Patients walked into a brand-new Bedford Stuyvesant Family Health Center (BSFHC) facility earlier this month as the community health center opened the doors to its new home.
The new building at 1456 Fulton St. replaces an aging facility a block away that had just one quarter the space.

The added capacity will enable BSFHC, which currently serves 20,000 patients in Bed-Stuy and surrounding communities, to double its patient visits to approximately 110,000 annually over the next two years. BSFHC will also be able to enhance the services it provides, including prenatal care, OBGYN, chronic disease management, HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment, dental care, pediatrics and more.

“Our new health center represents much more than a new building; it is a renewed investment in the community’s comprehensive health care— an area that has lagged for too long behind the city and nation in the indicators of healthy living, behavioral health and wellness,” said Patricia Fernandez, CEO of the center.

BSFHC’s community faces staggering health disparities and poor health outcomes; 30 percent are without a primary care provider; 29 percent are obese; 15 percent have diabetes and 35 percent of mothers receive late or no prenatal care.

The Primary Care Development Corporation (PCDC), a nonprofit financing institution dedicated to expanding primary care in underserved communities, provided $17 million to help finance the project.

“Health centers like Bed-Stuy Family Health Center are poised to expand rapidly over the next few years to meet the urgent needs of New York’s under-served communities,” said Elizabeth Swain, CEO of the Community Health Care Association of New York State (CHCANYS). “Innovative public-private partnerships between government, business and community organizations are essential to helping health centers meet their capital expansion needs.”