Primary Health Solutions Celebrates National Health Center Week

Hamilton- In celebration of National Health Center Week (August 7^th -13^th), Primary Health Solutions (PHS) will sponsor an informational booth on the plaza in front of the Government Services Building at 345 High St. in Hamilton on Wednesday, August 10 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.  Staff from PHS, Butler County WIC and Butler Behavioral Health Services will be on hand to meet the public, hand out bottled water and answer questions about our services.

Primary Health Solutions is a non-profit, locally-governed health center, with locations in Hamilton and Middletown, which serves thousands of local patients each year who would otherwise go without medical or dental  treatment.  Primary Health Solutions provides comprehensive, quality healthcare to Butler County residents, offering primary care, dental services, pediatrics and behavioral health. Primary Health Solutions’ patients range from newborns to seniors and we provide bi-lingual staff at all locations to accommodate our Spanish speaking patients. PHS also sponsors the Butler County WIC (Womens, Infants, Children) Program and partners with Butler Behavioral Health Services to provide behavioral health services for our patients.  

"Celebrating America's Health Centers: Serving Locally, Leading Nationally" is the theme for National Health Center Week 2011. This theme highlights the more than 45 year record of Health Centers in providing affordable, high quality, cost-effective health care to all people, regardless of ability to pay. One of the bright spots in America’s health care system, health centers provide a health care home to over 23 million people at 8,000 sites nationwide.  Locally, Primary Health Solutions provided care for more than 11,000 patients in 2010.  The “health center”  model of care has been rated as one of the most effective programs by then-President George W. Bush’s Office of Management and Budget. Indeed, presidents from both parties and Members of Congress on both sides of the aisle have long-recognized the value of health centers and supported their expansion.  Health centers are on track to expand their care to 40 million people over the next five years.  With more health care homes in communities, we can reduce health care costs and unnecessary hospitalizations and visits to the hospital emergency rooms.  According to the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC), there are 60 million people in the country with limited or no access to primary care providers – a trend that shows no sign of improving with the economic recession.

For additional information or to arrange an interview with PHS staff please contact Chris Suits (Human Resources Director) at 513-454-1460 or at chrissu@myprimaryhealthsolutions.org . You can also visit our website: www.myprimaryhealthsolutions.org  or the following website to find out more about National Health Center Week www.healthcenterweek.org .

Groundbreaking Ceremony from CTTS Productions on Vimeo.

Phooto by Pat AuckermanPHS was featured in the Middletown Journal for our historic Ground Breaking celebration.  Photo shows shovels circling the mound of prepared dirt ready to be turned for the official ceremony leading the way for the new 22,000 square foot facility.  "This building is about investing in the community," Marc Bellisario, CEO said.

According to the Business Reporter Chelsey Levingston:

 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 Ground Breaking Celebration, scheduled in conjunction with National Health Center Week, to recognize the work of Health Centers across the country.  Julie DiRossi-King attended the ground breaking as a representative of the Ohio Association of Community Health Centers.

Read more here

When the consortium opens the doors to its 5,300-square-foot health center on NW Washington Boulevard in Hamilton, the nonprofit health care provider will also begin operating under its new name, Primary Health Solutions.

“The emphasis for the name change was to better reflect the services that we provide to the community,” said Mark Bellisario, CEO of Primary Health Solutions. “Under our old name (BCCHC), people really had no concept of what we did. There really wasn’t a good idea of who we are.”

Kevin then takes the opportunity to discuss the growing need for primary health care and pediatric care in our community. You can read the full article here.

Source: Health Consortium getting new name, new building (http://www.journal-news.com/news/hamilton-news/health-consortium-getting-new-name-new-building-635375.html) by Kevin Aldridge

Marie French and Laura Senter at the Middletown health clinic.

The consortium is one of 85 health centers across the country that received a portion of $508 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding for major construction and renovation projects. The Butler County nonprofit agency, which was allocated roughly $4.7 million, will use the money to build an 18,000-square-foot expansion next to its current offices at 930 Ninth Ave. in Middletown.

Marie French, director of community relations for Butler County Community Health Consortium, said in addition to the stimulus funding, the health center is going to provide some matching funds for the expansion project. She said the center hopes to raise $1.2 million, for a total of nearly $6 million.

DBJ Reporter Tom Demeropolis continues to cover the remainder of the story, including the plans to use the funds to construct the new health center facility and how it will affect the community's intensifying need for quality health care. You can catch the full news story here.

Source: Middletown center to build $6M addition (http://dayton.bizjournals.com/dayton/stories/2010/01/18/story4.html) by Tom Demeropolis

The Butler County Community Health Consortium in Middletown is set to receive $4.7 million in federal stimulus funds to build a new 18,000-square-foot health center at the former home of Taft Elementary School off Verity Parkway.

Source: Middletown health center to receive $4.7M (http://www.middletownjournal.com/news/middletown-news/middletown-health-center-to-receive-4-7m-442859.html) by Ryan Gauthier