Rex Senior Health Center will soon have new home
A health center for seniors that stands to be displaced by the redevelopment of a historic warehouse on the edge of downtown Raleigh will soon have a new home.
The Rex Senior Health Center will be part of a new 35,000-square-foot center being developed on Rock Quarry Road by Wake Health Services, a non-profit community health agency. The center’s 1,700 patients will begin receiving services at an existing Wake Health Services building in August, then move to the new building in October, according to a joint announcement from the agency and Rex Healthcare.
The Rex Senior Health Center has been housed in a portion of the Stone’s Warehouse, on East Davie Street at Chavis Way, for all of its 17-year history. The city wants to sell the property for redevelopment, which would likely force the senior center to move.
Dr. Leroy Darkes, who helped found the Rex Senior Health Center, will stay on as community medical director, helping develop the senior program at Wake Health Services. He said the new arrangement will provide new resources for the center’s patients, including an on-site pharmacy and a full-time social work staff.
“They’re a big operation,” Darkes said. “They have a lot of resources that we will tap into.”
Rex and Wake Health Services said the new senior center will offer expanded services, including primary care, dental care, behavioral health and lab services, in addition to the new pharmacy. They said the center will be open more often as well, offering early morning, evening and weekend hours.
As part of the move, Wake Health Services will change its name to Advance Community Health.
Darkes said he is relieved that the senior center has found a new home, though he’s been wistful watching it being packed up for the move. “Seventeen years of blood, sweat and tears went into this practice,” he said.
But more importantly, he hopes that his elderly patients are not put off by the changes ahead.
“The logistics and the handling of this have to be just right to keep them on board and keep them feeling valued and delighted,” he said.
Stradling: 919-829-4739; Twitter: @RStradling
This story was originally published June 30, 2015 at 10:21 AM with the headline "Rex Senior Health Center will soon have new home."