New health care facility to offer  pediatric care, later hours

Neil Cohen, vice chairman of the board for Primary Health Solutions, gestures as he addresses the visitors to the groundbreaking ceremony Wednesday, Aug. 11, for the organizations health care facility in Middletown.

Staff photo by Pat Auckerman Neil Cohen, vice chairman of the board for Primary Health Solutions, gestures as he addresses the visitors to the groundbreaking ceremony Wednesday, Aug. 11, for the organizations health care facility in Middletown.

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By Chelsey Levingston, Staff Writer 1:36 AM Thursday, August 12, 2010

MIDDLETOWN — When Primary Health Solutions opens the doors to its health care center, officials there say the quality of life for locals will improve.

A groundbreaking ceremony at the site of the future center Wednesday, Aug. 11, coincided with National Community Health Center Week. Government representatives, area business people and Primary Health employees gathered next to the current Middletown center known as Ninth Avenue clinic on the corner of Verity Parkway and Yankee Road during temperatures that reached more than 90 degrees.

The center is a benefit because it adds services to the area, said Jeffrey Diver, president of Primary Health Board of Directors. The facility will allow more patients to be seen, he said. Last year more than 300 patients were gained a month and currently, appointments are booked through September at the Middletown and Bever Pavilion Hamilton centers, said Marie French, a spokesperson for Primary Health.

Added services will include more pediatric care, later week-night hours to 10 p.m. and weekend hours.

“This is a tremendous, exciting day for Primary Health Solutions, the city of Middletown, and most importantly, the patients,” Diver said.

Primary Health, a federally qualified health center that provides services on a sliding-scale payment program, received a $4.6 million federal stimulus facilities improvement grant to help build the center. The nonprofit has two other medical centers in Hamilton. The new $5.9 million facility will be 22,000-square feet.

Construction will begin in more than a month, said Marc Bellisario, Primary Health chief executive officer. The bidding process for construction is ongoing, Bellisario said.

A campaign to raise the other $1.4 million for the building costs was launched at the ceremony by Primary Health board President-elect Neil Cohen.

Middletown Mayor Larry Mulligan spoke at the ceremony Wednesday and said the partnership with Middletown City Schools, the city of Middletown and government shows the commitment to serve those in need.

The land — the previous site of Taft Elementary School — was donated by Middletown Schools to the city, which gave it to Primary Health, French said.

Bellisario said, “This building is about investing in the community; that’s what we want to do.”

Contact this reporter at (513) 705-2551 or clevingston@coxohio.com.

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