Raleigh community health center makes a bold move for better health

North Carolina’s refusal to expand Medicaid has left many low-income people outside of the nation’s health care system, but a new medical building in Southeast Raleigh testifies to the determination of those who seek to serve the underserved and the shut out.

Advance Community Health, formerly known as Wake Health Services, this month opened the new building at 1001 Rock Quarry Road that will expand and improve primary health care for low-income people through all stages of their lives.

The health organization provides more than $4.5 million annually in free medical care, dental care and drug prescriptions for patients who cannot afford to pay. The 35,000-square-foot building represents a $13 million investment that will combine services in Southeast Raleigh and enable the organization to better meet a pressing need. The nonprofit will continue to operate its satellite health centers in Fuqay-Varina, Apex and Louisburg.

In a statement about the new building, the community health center’s CEO Penella Washington said, “This is about more than health care; this project will serve as a catalyst to transform a community.”

The new health care building opens in an area of Raleigh where many people lack health insurance or access to doctors who accept Medicaid and Medicare. Currently, Advance Community Health Care provides primary care and dental care to 25,000 patients annually, 90 percent of them with incomes at 200 percent or less of the federal poverty level – $24,250 for a family of four. With the expansion, it will be able to serve 10,000 more.

The expanded service will help Wake County hospitals by offering preventative and primary care that will reduce the number of uninsured people going to emergency rooms.

The opening of the building is a triumph of will over financing obstacles and the state’s unwillingness to expand Medicaid. It’s a triumph accomplished by Penella Washington, the board members of Advance Community Health, fundraising campaign co-chairs Maria Spaulding and Jimmy Goodmon, and with matching grants from Wake County and the A.J. Fletcher Foundation and financing through the Local Initiatives Support Corporation of New York.

With the resurgence of downtown Raleigh, Southeast Raleigh is attracting new housing and investment. The opening of Advance Community Health’s new building adds to the good news as the community’s health improves along with its economy.

This story was originally published October 25, 2015 at 2:20 PM with the headline "Raleigh community health center makes a bold move for better health."