The North Texas Area Community Health Centers (NTACHC) broke ground on a new 33,800-square-foot Northside Community Health Center Tuesday morning.
The building, which will be located at 2332 Beverly Hills Drive, will replace its current 12,000-square-foot clinic near downtown Fort Worth.
The new building is scheduled to open in 2018 and will allow the clinic to grow from seeing 9,600 patients to be the medical home for up to 22,000 patients by 2022.
The clinic is one of three NTACHC locations in Tarrant County, all designated as a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC).
"It provides services for people regardless of their ability to pay. They were designed to be community driven and community run," said NTACHC CEO Gerrie Whitaker.
An FQHC is a reimbursement designation from the Bureau of Primary Health Care and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services of the United States Department of Health and Human Services.
Community Health Centers receive grant funding under Section 330 of the PHS Act.
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All provide care to anyone regardless of income, residency status, employment, health insurance coverage or ability to pay for services.
Whitaker expects demand to skyrocket as families navigate healthcare reform.
"The one thing that has been a constant since the 1960s is FQHC. This country has gone from fee for service, HMOs, to ACA. Health centers have been a constant, and they've been the safety net," Whitaker said.
Services at the new clinic will include a full range of quality family-oriented comprehensive primary and preventive services, including family medicine, pediatrics, OB/GYN, family planning services, prenatal care, behavioral care services — including depression and anxiety counseling — and health education promotion and disease prevention services.
To find a FQHC near you, check here.
