Deborah Johnson Wood
A new integrated approach to health care for low income Kent County adults and children could break ground this Friday on more than just a bricks-and-mortar facility – it could also set a national model for integrated healthcare.
The
Heart of the City Health Center, 100 Cherry St. SE, Grand Rapids is a $30 million project that will combine services from
Touchstone Innovare,
Proaction Behavioral Health Alliance and
Cherry Street Health Services.
"There are programs that integrate care to a limited extent in many places of the nation," says Chris Shea, executive director of Cherry Street Health Services. "But they're not as intense in their integration as we expect this program to be. Here we have staff who are mixed on the medical and behavioral sides, and the transition of care will be almost invisible to the patient as to whether we're working on medical or mental issues."
The facility will provide health care to low income residents, with a focus on creating a new pediatrics center where Cherry Street Health's Grand Rapids Pediatrics will offer pediatric medical, dental and vision services.
When completed in 2011, the 79,300-square-foot facility will create:
• A central location for an estimated 27,000 patients per year
• 119 new health care jobs
• About 100 construction jobs
The groundbreaking ceremony takes place May 14 at 2 p.m.
Source: Chris Shea and Emily Vander Woude, Cherry Street Health Services
Related ArticlesProposed $25M health care facility to serve 17,000 Kent County residents annuallyDeborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at [email protected]. Development News tips can be sent to [email protected].
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