Mayor Bill de Blasio. Image credit: CityLand
Mayor de Blasio announced the city’s contribution to new multi-million dollar healthcare facility as latest achievement of pledge to reduce health disparities in the City. On July 18, 2017, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced plans for a new 77,000 square-foot facility as part of the Mayor’s Caring Neighborhoods Initiative. The state-of-the-art facility, named Healthview, will serve as a primary care access point that provides medical, dental, mental health, and patient support services. It is projected to serve over 25,000 new patients and create over 100 new jobs in the first three years.
As part of the Caring Initiative, the Mayor has committed $1 million for the $65 million facility. Queens Borough President Melinda Katz has committed $3 million through her office and the City Council has secured an additional $2 million.
Healthview will be located at 40th Road and College Point Boulevard in Flushing’s transportation and residential hub. The new facility will be operated by the Charles B. Wang Community Health Center, a nonprofit healthcare provider primarily serves the City’s Asian American community.
“All New Yorker deserves equal access to healthcare and this state-of-the art facility means the tens of thousands of people in booming Flushing will get the primary care they need. As we work to make this city more equitable we are focused on neighborhoods that have been overlooked – and righting wrongs,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said.
“Neighborhoods like Flushing, which has large numbers of immigrants and seniors, have been historically underserved when it comes to healthcare,” said Queens Borough President Melinda Katz. “The new facility will help serve the needs of growing families as well as create jobs and fuel our borough’s economy. In partnership with the Charles B. Wang Community Health Center, this facility will also have the expertise to overcome cultural and language barriers and ensure that more New Yorkers have access to quality care.”
“This undertaking by the Charles B. Wang Community Health Center to make sure all have access to primary care is a great example of a community health center fulfilling its mission to provide quality and affordable health care to the underserved. The medical community in Flushing continues to thrive, and it is important that we provide culturally-specific access to affordable health care to everyone in our community, especially those underserved immigrants who are looking for quality care. I was proud to work with my colleagues in the City Council to advocate on behalf of funding this important service, and would like to thank the Mayor’s office and everyone involved in turning this center into a world-class medical facility right here in Flushing,” Council Member Peter Koo said.
The groundbreaking for the project is expected this fall.
By: Jonathon Sizemore (Jonathon is the CityLaw Fellow and a New York Law School Graduate, Class of 2016).