Greater Prince William Community Health Center grows, adds services

Those with little or no health insurance are much closer to haveing a one-stop shop for medical care.

The Greater Prince William Community Health Center now provides primary care to about 6,000 residents.

This week it added prenatal care and in April it will double the size of the facility -- from 7,000 to 14,000 square feet -- and add dental and mental health services.

"Our goal is to provide comprehensive health care services for the entire family in one convenient location," said Frank J. Principi, executive director of the health center. "We already have a first-rate primary care service at the center and now we have brought together a quality, caring, professional prenatal care team.

"We look forward to being able to serve even more patients in the coming months and encourage local residents to meet our staff, tour our brand-new facility or schedule a consultation," he said.

The community health center was founded by a group of health organizations, Prince William County and its two hospitals, and incorporated in 2004. The center was to be affordable to the working poor who have very little or no health insurance.

This would also give the working poor an alternative to more costly care for routine procudures at hospital emergency rooms.

With financial support largely from the county and the hospitals, the health center got up and running only to face possible closure in 2008.

The county, with its own budget constraints, stopped funding it and the health center's attempts to become a "federally-qualified health center," which meant it would receive federal money, had not come through.

"We survived and kept doing things to meet the community's needs," said Sallie Eissler, chairman of the community health center's board of directors.

Organizers struggled but successfully kept the community health center running for another year, until the federal status was achieved with the help of U.S. Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-11th, in 2009.

A federal, one-time capital improvement grant of $250,000 is paying for the expansion.

Maternity care

The community health center began seeing maternity patients on Wednesday and were full, emphasizing the need for the care since the center did little to advertise the new services.

"It really was all just word of mouth," said Elizabeth Sykes, director for operations for the health center.

Sentara Potomac Hospital had been providing prenatal services, first at the hospital and later in space near the community health center. It turned over that program to the health center.

"I am so excited about this. It means that women have another choice of where they want to go for maternity care," said Eissler, who is also director of Sentara Potomac Hospital's mobile clinic program.

"Prenatal care should be offered in the community and not in a hospital. Some people are afraid of hospitals," she said.

Mental, dental health

Health center officials expect the same patient response when they add dental and mental health services.

The Prince William Area Free Clinic does offer dental appointments, but they are very limited and restricted to adults only. The Prince William County Community Services Board does provide mental health services. However, due to budget constraints, it now can only serve those with severe mental health problems.

The community health center will be able to treat those with mental health issues not classified as severe.

Eissler said the community center is well on its way to meeting its goals.

"We are getting there, especially when we have mental health services and dental up and running. Dental is a huge addition. There are such limited resources for dental services," she said. "We've come a long way."

"Community health centers are really important to a community as a partner in public health," said Dr. Rashid Mohiuddin, the center's medical director who joined last summer after working at a community health center in Baltimore. "They are an essential place where you can prevent unnecessary emergency room visits."

Emergency room impact

Eissler said the center's impact on emergency room visits will be very telling.

"We'll know we are done (and have accomplished our mission) when the emergency rooms are no longer seeing patients seeking primary care," she said.

The Greater Prince William Community Health Center is at 4379 Ridgewood Center Drive, Suite 102, off Prince William Parkway. There are no restrictions on who can be treated and the center accepts all private insurance and Medicaid.

For more information, call 703-680-7950 or visit its Web site at www.gpwhealthcenter.org.

Staff writer Aileen Streng can be reached at 703-878-8010.