DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA PRIMARY CARE ASSOCIATION IS PROUD TO ANNOUNCE
THE RIBBON-CUTTING CEREMONY FOR BREAD FOR THE CITY’S DENTAL CLINIC

For Immediate Release: February 9, 2012

Washington, DC—The District of Columbia Primary Care Association (DCPCA) is proud to announce the Grand Opening Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony of Bread for the City’s new Dental Clinic at its Northwest Center, located at 1525 – 7th Street NW, at 6:00 PM, on Thursday, February 16, 2012. At 6:30 PM, Bread for the City staff will hold an open house and a reception, where appetizers and soft drinks will be served. (RSVP by February 10th to rsvp@breadforthecity.org.)

Bread for the City‘s $6.8 million expansion project was completed in January 2011 at its Northwest Center in the Shaw neighborhood. “DCPCA granted more than $5 million – close to 75 percent of project costs – as part of its Medical Homes DC grant program to Bread for the City. This grant came with significant technical assistance from DCPCA’s advisors in finance and real estate development,” DCPCA Chief Executive Officer Sharon A. Baskerville explained. Bread for the City leveraged DCPCA’s grant with a New Markets Tax Credit, as well as grants from private individuals and foundations, to secure full funding for its project — with no debt.

Bread for the City’s dental clinic has two chairs, one dentist, and one dental assistant. The dental clinic will provide oral examinations, X-rays, dental cleaning, fluoride treatment, scaling and root planing, sealants, restorative work, extractions and dentures. Bread for the City anticipates serving 1,100 unique dental patients through approximately 2,544 patient visits annually, with $161 estimated as the average cost per dental visit.

The expansion of Bread for the City’s Northwest Center was primarily for its health care services. The renovation to its existing facility permits Bread for the City’s medical clinic to see approximately 9,000 patients annually – up from about 3,000 per year. “This new center allows Bread for the City to triple its capacity to provide health care to the community – insuring that the District’s under- and uninsured residents receive the high quality health care that they deserve. This new facility was the first major expansion project largely funded by DCPCA’s Medical Homes DC Capital Projects initiative. DCPCA is proud to be the major funder of this capital project, and of the good work that Bread for the City does in our community. Bread for the City is also one of the six community health centers that participated as early adopters of electronic health records through a health information technology project initiated by DCPCA,” Baskerville said.

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The District of Columbia Primary Care Association is a nonprofit health care reform organization founded in 1996 to improve the health of DC’s vulnerable residents by ensuring that they receive high quality primary health care – regardless of their ability to pay. DCPCA represents 13 primary care providers in 47 sites across the District of Columbia.

DCPCA – ACTION AND INNOVATION FOR HEALTH EQUITY.

DCPCA’s Medical Homes DC program is made possible, in part,
by generous support from the DC Department of Health.

Contacts: Shari L. Curtis, Director of Community Health Access, (202) 638-0252 x237; and
Karen A. Szulgit, Senior Communications Specialist, (202) 638-0252 x214

In 2006, with a planning grant from the District of Columbia Primary Care Association (DCPCA), Unity Health Care and DCPCA began an active pursuit of alternative sites for the Anacostia Health Center on W Street SE. After conducting due diligence on 10 different sites over two years, DCPCA finally closed on the current site at 1500 Galen Street SE in October 2008. Within six months of closing on the purchase, DCPCA demolished the vacant derelict building that once stood on the property. DCPCA removed an eyesore from the neighborhood where illicit activities were taking place.

Over the past two years, DCPCA has worked closely with Unity to lead the project through site due diligence, design, zoning, permitting, and community approval –- all of which culminated in a groundbreaking event in September 2010. When construction is complete in the first quarter of 2012, DCPCA will “sell” the building to Unity Health Care for $1, thanks to Medical Homes DC grants as well as American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds.

The existing Anacostia Health Center is a Quonset hut that was meant to be a temporary site for the health center but, years later, it still stands. Despite the best efforts of the operator, Unity Health Care, it is difficult to maximize patient and employee dignity in such a location. DCPCA is building a state-of-the-art, LEED-certified, community health center that will become a long-term asset to the neighborhood. The completed facility will be 30,000 square feet, a major increase over the existing facility. Based on projected visit estimates, which incorporate usage of the existing facility, Unity expects to serve 50,000 patient visits annually – more than double the visits of the current health center.

View photos of the new Unity Health Care – Anacostia Health Center — taken by DCPCA staff on January 25, 2012.

View the latest photos of the new Unity Health Care – Anacostia Health Center — taken by Forrester Construction Company on February 3, 2012.

View concept diagrams for the Unity Health Care – Anacostia Health Center.

A grand opening of the new Anacostia Health Center will be planned for late Spring 2012. Stay tuned for more details soon!

DCPCA’s Medical Homes DC program is made possible,
in part, by generous support from the DC Department of Health.

In the news business, reporters are always looking for that quote that sings. The sound bite that really pulls together the story or captures exactly what needs to be said. In Washington, there is no shortage of folks who can pull together a zinger of a quote on deadline. But the Washington Business Journal picked six nominees — including the DC Primary Care Associations’s Chief Executive Officer Sharon Baskerville — in their “Best in Business: Most Quotable” category.  You have an opportunity to cast your ballot for Sharon through midnight on Wednesday, January 25th!

At DCPCA, Baskerville represents the collective interests of 13 community health centers at 47 unique sites across the District of Columbia. The DC government committed more than $68 million to DCPCA’s Medical Homes DC program for the renovation and re-building of 12 health centers. Our capital projects program matched these local government funds with $34 million from other sources. To date, $37 million has been disbursed to our health centers for a dozen capital projects.

Of the 12 capital projects, DCPCA has completed eight. Four completed renovations include: Community of Hope (Ward 1), La Clínica del Pueblo (Ward 1), Perry Family Health Center (Ward 6), and SOME (So Others Might Eat) (Ward 5). One major expansion was completed at Bread for the City (Ward 2), and three new facilities were completed at Family and Medical Counseling Service, Inc. (Ward 8), Mary’s Center (Ward 4), and Unity Health Care/Walker-Jones (Ward 6). One new facility is currently under construction; Unity Heath Care/Anacostia (Ward Eight) is expected to be completed in March 2012; and three new facilities are expected to begin construction this year, including: Community of Hope (Ward 8), Unity Health Care/Parkside (Ward 7), and Unity Health Care/Brentwood (Ward 5).

MEDIA ADVISORY:  October 21, 2011

DC PRIMARY CARE ASSOCIATION TO HOST ITS 14th ANNUAL MEETING:
Labor Pains: The Birth of a New System of Health Care
Presented by

WHO: DC Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton (invited); Councilmember Michael A. Brown (confirmed); Councilmember Vincent Orange (tentative); Councilmember Harry Thomas Jr. (tentative); Dr. Mohammad N. Akhter, Director of the DC Department of Health; DC Chief Financial Officer Natwar M. Gandhi; DC and Federal Government Employees; Community Health Center Members; Health Care Advocates; DCPCA Board of Directors and Staff

WHAT: DCPCA’s 14th Annual Meeting – “Labor Pains: The Birth of a New System of Health Care”

WHERE: Kellogg Conference Center at Gallaudet University, 800 Florida Avenue NE, Washington DC

WHEN: 8:30 AM – 5 PM, Thursday, October 27, 2011

Washington, DC — The District of Columbia Primary Care Association (DCPCA) is hosting its 2011 Annual Meeting from 8:30 AM until 5 PM on Thursday, October 27, 2011, at the Kellogg Conference Center at Gallaudet University, 800 Florida Avenue NE, Washington, DC. DCPCA’s conference will showcase our groundbreaking work in health care quality, technology, capital development, and workforce initiatives that make us a leader in the movement to achieve health equity for all in the District. Our event theme – “Labor Pains: The Birth of a New System of Health Care” – symbolizes our long-term commitment to realizing a health care system with guaranteed access to primary care and no disparities in health outcomes for anyone in our city.

Dr. Marilyn Hughes Gaston will deliver the keynote address between 9:30 and 10:00 AM at DCPCA’s 14th Annual Meeting.  Dr. Gaston is the first African American woman to direct a Public Health Service Bureau and only the second African American woman to achieve the position of Assistant Surgeon General and rank of Rear Admiral in the US Public Health Service.

This annual event attracts high level speakers who are experts in health reform, quality improvement, heath information technology, policy issues, and other key topics affecting health care delivery and transformation. Speakers include Dr. Alice M. Rivlin, Senior Fellow, The Brookings Institution, who will lead a panel discussion on a report by The Brookings Institution – “Expanding Health Coverage in the District of Columbia: D.C.’s Shift from Providing Services to Subsidizing Individuals and Its Continuing Challenges in Promoting Health, 1999-2009.”

View the Final Program Agenda.  Register online.

The District of Columbia Primary Care Association is a nonprofit health action and advocacy organization. Founded in 1996, DCPCA works to improve health care and health coverage for the District’s low-income, uninsured, and medically vulnerable residents by ensuring that they receive high quality primary health care – regardless of their ability to pay. DCPCA represents 14 primary care providers in 48 sites across the District of Columbia. DCPCA works with its members to advance policy and develop programs like Medical Homes DC that help ensure that everyone gets the right care, at the right time, and in the right place. DCPCA’s Medical Homes DC program is made possible, in part, by generous support from the DC Department of Health.

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Contact:  Karen A. Szulgit, DCPCA Senior Communications Specialist, (202) 638-0252, extension 214

DC PRIMARY CARE ASSOCIATION IS PROUD TO PARTICIPATE IN “TOPPING OUT” EVENT

AT UNITY HEALTH CARE’S ANACOSTIA HEALTH CENTER IN WARD 8

Hosted by Forrester Construction Company

WHO: DC Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton (invited); Mayor Vincent C. Gray (invited); Council Chairman Kwame R. Brown (invited); Ward 8 Councilmember Marion Barry Jr. (invited); At-Large Councilmember David A. Catania (invited); Vincent A. Keane, Unity Health Care, Inc., President & CEO; Sharon A. Baskerville, DC Primary Care Association, Chief Executive Officer; and Forrester Construction Company’s Construction Team and Subcontractors

WHAT: “Topping Out” Event – including Site Tours and Backyard-Style Barbeque Lunch provided by T.E. Catering, Inc. – to recognize and say thank you to the construction subcontractors and partners, and to celebrate a major milestone in this project

WHERE: 1500 Galen Street SE, near the corner of 16th & W streets (adjacent to the Frederick Douglass National Historic Site)

WHEN: 11:00 AM, Friday, August 5, 2011

WHY: To Celebrate the “Topping Out” of the Construction Project

Washington, DC—The District of Columbia Primary Care Association (DCPCA) will help to celebrate this capital project’s milestone at a “topping out” event – a ceremony that symbolizes the completion of the exterior work and the transition to the interior.  The new community health center will be operated as Unity Health Care’s Anacostia Health Center in Ward 8.

This project is designed to improve the quality and efficacy of primary health care throughout the District.  This new 28,000 square foot building will provide quality, patient-centered health care services in a beautiful new facility.  This is DCPCA’s ninth Medical Homes DC capital project and will be a state-of-the-art, LEED-certified (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) green building that will become a major asset to the neighborhood.  A blighted building was torn down to make way for this facility.

This $19.6 million project is funded 75 percent by the District of Columbia government and 25 percent by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Facilities Improvement Program.  DCPCA purchased the site from Four Points LLC in October 2008.  The groundbreaking event took place on September 8, 2010.

With generous financial assistance from the DC Department of Health, DCPCA’s Medical Homes DC program has completed expansions and renovations at seven existing community health centers, and construction of one new health center.  Another center is currently under construction in Ward 8; two more are slated to start construction over the next 12 months; one will be built in Ward 7, and the other will be in Ward 8.

The District of Columbia Primary Care Association is a nonprofit health action and advocacy organization.  Founded in 1996, DCPCA works to improve health care and health coverage for the District’s low-income, uninsured, and medically vulnerable residents by ensuring that they receive high quality primary health care – regardless of their ability to pay.  DCPCA represents 14 primary care providers in 48 sites across the District.

DCPCA – action and innovation for health equity.

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View the event online: Unity Health Care Anacostia Health Center’s Topping Out event hosted by Forrester Construction Company (8/5/11).

Contact:  Karen A. Szulgit, DCPCA Senior Communications Specialist, (202) 638-0252, extension 214

This installment of Executive Leaders DC was broadcast on July 14, 2011 and featured interviews with Kaan Aslansan, the principal of Optimity Advisors; Peter Black, the president – Greater Washington & Northern Virginia Region of M&T Bank; Steve Cox, the president & CEO of Council of Better Business Bureaus; and Sharon Baskerville, the CEO of the District of Columbia Primary Care Association.

Click here to listen to the Executive Leaders Radio Show Webcast (00:41:08 start – 00:53:31 end).

Executive Leaders DC

This radio show can be found on terrestrial radio stations WHFS/1580 AM (The Big Talker), iTunes, SBNonline, SmartCEO, AOL radio, Yahoo radio, and other podcast directories. Hosts Herb Cohen, Peter Schwartz, Vistage, Michael Manion, Cerius Interim Executive Solutions and Brien Biondi, League Assets, conducts elite interviews of prominent CEOs, CFOs, CIOs, COOs, and presidents focusing on what makes people tick. The 10 – 25 minute on-air interviews are really informal positive conversations. Guests may be asked about their background education, influences, mentors and early career experiences, about their business, what they do, and who they serve. They may be asked about opportunities ahead, challenges they have faced, or their senior management team. Interests outside of work, personal turning points, and family sacrifices capture the unique human aspect behind these prominent leaders. All questions are designed to help our audience learn what it takes to succeed.

Hispanic Information & Telecommunications Network’s Destination Casa Blanca, June 30, 2011

6/30/2011 Transitioning to Electronic health records
6/30/2011 Electronic Medical Records and Privacy
6/30/2011 Emerging technologies to monitor chronic illnesses
6/30/2011 New professions on the health care industry
6/30/2011 Pros & Cons of Health IT