UPMC St. Margaret New Kensington Family Health Center Getting New Home to Better Serve a Vulnerable Population
Today St. Margaret Foundation (SMF) and UPMC St. Margaret hosted a groundbreaking ceremony for the new home of UPMC St. Margaret New Kensington Family Health Center to better meet growing patient needs and provide more inviting and efficient access for a vulnerable patient population. Its new location will be at 1080 Fifth Ave., New Kensington, Pa., 15068.
“Creating a safe and welcoming space for all of our patients is of utmost importance, and that requires office spaces that encourage collaboration, cross communication and teamwork,” said Mary Lee Gannon, president, SMF. “The Foundation is proud to have launched the fundraising campaign to make this happen for the people of New Kensington.”
Key officials on hand for the hard hat and shovel ceremony were: PA Senator Jim Brewster, Representative Frank Dermody, New Kensington Mayor Thomas Guzzo, and Joni Schwager, Executive Director of Staunton Farm Foundation. Joining them was Jonathan Han, M.D., medical director, UPMC St. Margaret New Kensington Family Health Center, and program director of the UPMC St. Margaret Family Medicine Residency Program.
The center’s clinic, today, provides more than 16,000 patient visits annually, including primary care, obstetrics, pediatrics, opioid use disorder intervention, psychiatry, social work and behavioral health support — the integration of which is not delivered anywhere else in the community. The current site of the clinic at 301 11th St. in New Kensington has operated for 19 years and will expand from 4,700-square-feet to 8,000-square-feet and will accommodate the growing population and community public health needs, as well as provide space for a partnership with other community/social service agencies. A priority and goal of the new center is creating an improved patient experience that supports and encourages patients to want to return for their preventive health care and stay well.
Primary care and disease prevention and wellness are significant community health needs identified through UPMC’s 2019 Community Health Needs Assessment for Allegheny County. The expanded UPMC St. Margaret New Kensington Family Health Center will increase access to wellness services and primary health care for the community.
UPMC St. Margaret is committed to the health care needs of the New Kensington community. The new facility will play an important role in the recruitment and training of future family health physicians for the nationally ranked UPMC St. Margaret Family Practice Residency Program.
“We are excited to expand our services by moving to a larger facility. Because our patient volume has grown dramatically, the services we provide grow in parallel to meet the changing needs of a more diverse community,” said Han.
“Building a new family health center to accommodate these integrated services is a welcomed challenge, and one we accept to create a safe and welcoming space to best serve our patients,” said Dave Patton, president, UPMC St. Margaret.
In addition to New Kensington, UPMC St. Margaret has two other family health centers located in Bloomfield-Garfield and Lawrenceville.