News Release: September 8, 2010
DC Primary Care Association Breaks Ground in Ward 8
Washington, DC — The DC Primary Care Association (DCPCA) broke ground in Ward 8 to make way for a new community health center to be operated as Unity Health Care’s Anacostia Health Center. 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.
DCPCA invited DC Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray, Ward 8 Councilmember Marion Barry Jr., At-Large Councilmember David A. Catania, who chairs the Council’s Committee on Health, colleagues from the Council, and federal health care officials to join in the celebration. Also participating in the groundbreaking were development team members Little Diversified Architectural Consulting, Forrester Construction Company, Greenstein DeLorme & Luchs, P.C., and JAIR LYNCH Development Partners.
DCPCA deemed Anacostia a high-need neighborhood and made this health center a priority at the inception of the Medical Homes DC program. The initiative is designed to improve the quality and efficacy of primary health care throughout the District. A 2008 report by the RAND Corporation outlines Ward 8′s population as one at-risk, with numerous health-related problems, especially those associated with poverty. “The Anacostia Health Center will be another success story of DCPCA’s Medical Homes DC Initiative, a project which leverages dollars and provides support and expertise to expand primary care access in underserved areas such as Ward 8. This new 28,000 square foot facility will provide quality, patient-centered health care services in a beautiful new facility,” said Sharon A. Baskerville, DCPCA’s chief executive officer. “DCPCA is proud to be partnering with the DC Department of Health and Unity Health Care on this initiative.”
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 (ARRA) through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Facilities Improvement Program (FIP). DCPCA purchased the site from Four Points LLC in October 2008. Currently the site is vacant land, but a blighted building was torn down to make way for this facility. Construction is expected to take 13 months.
DCPCA 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 14 primary care providers in 58 sites across the District of Columbia.
DCPCA – action and innovation for health equity.
The DC Primary Care Association’s Medical Homes DC program is made possible in part by generous support from the DC Department of Health.
Contact: Karen A. Szulgit, DCPCA Senior Communications Specialist, (202) 638-0252, extension 214
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