Think of it as the Deepwater Wind of health care: Innovation, starting in Rhode Island, that could be a model for the world. That’s how revolutionary the concept of the Neighborhood Health Station could be, and the first one is being rolled out in Central Falls.
Perhaps overshadowed by a visit from actress Viola Davis, the groundbreaking for the new Neighborhood Health Station in Central Falls heralds the beginning of a new paradigm in health care, one meant to serve the needs of the community, not the convenience of the provider. The Blackstone Valley Community Health Care (BVCHC) Neighborhood Health Station will be located at 1000 Broad St in Central Falls, and will offer primary care, walk-in primary care, dental care, a pharmacy, physical therapy, pediatric care, occupational therapy, mental health services, Ob/Gyn services, radiology and more; serving over 14,000 patients and 50,000 visits a year.
Upon completion in 2018, the city of Central Falls will benefit from having comprehensive services offered under one roof, where clinical professionals can collaborate face-to-face for improved care coordination and same-day sick appointments with convenient hours (8 am to 8 pm) on week days and additional weekend hours, enabling individuals and families to access health and medical services close to home, when it is most convenient for them.
BVCHC hopes to cover 90 percent of Central Falls residents. Using medical records to identify at-risk patients, we will continue to collaborate using community resources and with the new health building, we are confident that we can improve public outcomes, said BVCHC Senior Clinical and Population Health Officer Michael Fine, M.D., who now also serves as Health Policy Advisor to the City of Central Falls.
Based on public meetings with residents, three public health priorities were identified: the community wanted their kids to be safe in school, they needed access to a gymnasium and they wanted better access to primary care.
Innovation is desperately needed in health care. When we as a nation inevitably pass some form of “Medicare for All” single payer health care system it will be vitally important to keep costs down and people healthy. Neighborhood Health Stations point the way.
None of us, said Dr. Michael Fine, former head of the Rhode Island Department of Health, have ever lived in a place where it doesnt matter if youre rich or poor, black or white, whether you speak English or Spanish or another language, whether you walk, take the bus or drive a car, where it doesnt matter if you have papers or not, whether you can read or not, whether you walk on two feet, or walk with assistance weve never seen a place in which everyone matters, in which we look out for everyone. Whether they came to the health center this year or not, whether they do what doctors recommend or not, whether they choose to live differently or not, we stand here today with a different vision: A vision of a place in which everyone matters. Its a vision of what Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King Jr. called a beloved community.
Below, watch Dr. Fine, former head of the RI Department of Health, explain the importance of Neighborhood Health Stations.
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