Boston — Greater New Bedford Community Health Center As part of the economic development bill signed into law by Gov. Charlie Baker this month, it will receive $250,000 for “expanding behavioral services for vulnerable and high-risk patients.”
The funds will be used to renovate the health center, creating a back door and elevator, and transforming the third floor from an administrative office into a behavioral health center.
These changes are aimed at making patient flow smoother, increasing distance between patients in waiting rooms, and making mental health services more accessible.
The funding will be used to increase access to behavioral health services for residents, including the new Medicaid initiative approved this fall and $2 million allocated to health centers from the Federal ARPA Fund for fiscal 2022 final spending. GNBCHC and other initiatives by Congress. Specification.
GNBCHC president and CEO Cheryl Bartlett said the center serves about 25,000 people and receives more than 80,000 visits annually. As such, “what we can do to support, extend and improve it is very exciting,” she says.
Comprehensive legislation prioritizes health and human services, with millions of taxpayer dollars going to health centers, COVID-19 management, homelessness and other projects statewide.
Bartlett says Rep. Antonio FD Cabral of D-New Bedford “strongly endorsed” the argument to get the earmark into law.
Cabral says there is a need now for funding and space for mental health services, which have always been a low priority in the past.
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“I was confident that this project would fit the bill, and then I would be able to convince Houseways and Means that this is the kind of project that is well suited for this kind of spending.”
Bartlett and board member and patient Rick Porteus say the health center has acquired a new administrative space across the street on Acushnet Avenue, clearing space on the third floor of the building.
As such, Bartlett and the Center pushed for renovations to create more robust behavioral health services and access to that floor. Porteus says $250,000 “makes it possible.”
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“Patients, including myself, appreciate our current location in downtown New Bedford,” Porteus said. However, they own multiple buildings and need regular renovations to “tie them together” to improve patient flow.
