SYRACUSE — The Central New York Community Foundation recently awarded more than $400,000 in grants to charitable organizations in Onondaga and Madison counties, including two grants focused on expanding access to quality health-care services. Residents of the Near Westside neighborhood will have increased access to primary and mental health care with the construction of the […]
SYRACUSE — The Central New York Community Foundation recently awarded more than $400,000 in grants to charitable organizations in Onondaga and Madison counties, including two grants focused on expanding access to quality health-care services.
Residents of the Near Westside neighborhood will have increased access to primary and mental health care with the construction of the new Westside Family Health Center, the foundation said in a news release. This capital project, spearheaded by St. Joseph’s Hospital Health Center Foundation, received a $150,000 boost from the Community Foundation. Its current 4,000-square-foot facility will be relocated to a new 18,000-square-foot location on Gifford Street.
The larger footprint will provide enough room to house primary care, pediatrics, OB/GYN, mental health, radiology, and phlebotomy services in one facility, according to the news release. Located in a neighborhood that holds one of the highest poverty rates in the nation, the center expects to serve members of the low-income, minority, immigrant, and refugee populations of Syracuse, the Community Foundation said.
In addition to providing standard health-care services, the center will be partnering with Nojaim’s Food Market, the Syracuse University Lerner Center for Public Health Promotion, Huntington Family Centers, and the Onondaga County Health Department to develop a wellness-outreach program. That initiative will address health risks such as diabetes, high cholesterol, heart disease, and obesity by educating people on healthy shopping and eating habits, the Community Foundation release stated.
In Madison County, the Madison County Community Action Partnership (CAP) will utilize a $50,000 CNY Community Foundation grant toward the relocation and expansion of the Mary Rose Center. This free clinic in Oneida sees patients who are uninsured, underinsured, or otherwise unable to access primary care.
High demand at the Mary Rose Center’s current 700-square-foot space has contributed to long wait times to see physicians. The center’s new 3,000-square-foot space, located within the Gorman Community Center at the Northside Shopping Plaza, will add space for private client intake, a more comfortable waiting area, and three additional exam rooms to decrease wait times, the foundation noted. Neighboring nonprofit tenants in the same building will allow clients the opportunity to access multiple services at one location. Case workers from CAP will also be on site to provide wrap-around services and referrals, the Community Foundation said.
“These two grants will help expand access to health care for residents of Onondaga and Madison counties in new ways,” Peter Dunn, Community Foundation president and CEO, said in the release. “Both health centers are implementing unique partnerships with neighborhood community organizations and businesses that will contribute to the overall health and wellbeing of their patients. At a time of rapid change in health-care delivery, this innovative thinking makes these organizations models for providing well-rounded care to underserved populations.”
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