Paterson Community Health Center receives $1.4 million federal grant
By Jonathan Greene
Published: November 25, 2014
The Paterson Community Health Center received two federal grants totaling $1,419,823 to further assist low-income city residents by providing primary healthcare services, Congressman Bill Pascrell announced Tuesday morning.
“This federal grant will allow Paterson Community Health Center to continue providing invaluable healthcare services to Patersonians that need it most,” Pascrell said. Founded in 1979, the center’s two locations on Broadway and Clinton Street serve approximately 76,000 low-income city residents.
“We are extremely grateful for Congressman Pascrell’s efforts in helping to provide uninsured and underinsured Patersonians the help they need,” Mary Garner, chief executive officer of the center, said.
The center specializes in providing city residents with vital services like mental health and substance abuse services at both locations. The center also has a mobile dental program that utilizes a van which travels to community schools, day care center, churches, and public housing projects delivering needed on-site dental services to residents.
“For more than three decades, PCHC has helped families with limited options by offering cost-effective and accessible care to our community,” the congressman said. “PCHC’s commitment to community health has been demonstrated time and time again, which is why I’ll fight to ensure they have the federal dollars they need to continue their critical work for the people of Paterson.”
The center in recent months has been enrolling city residents into the new national healthcare system called Obamacare. “New Jersey is in desperate need of assistance in enrolling folks in the ACA, and these federal funds will help provide our communities with the education they need regarding the healthcare options available to them through the healthcare law,” Pascrell said.
Grant money will enable the center to do outreach, health education, patient navigation, transportation, and facilitate enrollment to improve access to health care for the city’s poor.