Founded In 1971, Fair Haven Community Heath Center Expands Its Community-Based Care

NEW HAVEN, CT — Somehow it seems like both yesterday and years and years ago. When Fair Haven Community Health Care took over the Wilbur Cross High School gym for the first round of COVID-19 vaccines, with a little help from the National Guard.

The community health center was among the leaders in ensuring the then just-approved coronavirus vaccines were made available to the community back in March 2021.

Founded in 1971, the Fair Haven-based community clinic, with locations in New Haven and Branford, and school-based clinics in New Haven and East Haven, officially celebrated the grand opening of its new health center and community hub at 374 Grand Ave.

The new 36,000-square-foot, start-of-the-art, fossil fuel free facility is part of a $40 million campus expansion for FHCHC to meet the growing demand for high-quality accessible care across a wide range of medical services.

Currently, at the 374 Grand Ave. campus there are some 33,000 patient visits per year and the expansion will allow FHCHC to expand to 55,300 visits per year.

According to FHCHC, the expansion project was its first major capital project in over 50 years.

The new building has 26 exam rooms, new behavioral health and Assisted Treatment Addiction Medicine spaces, and a community pharmacy. Services at the new hub include Primary Care, Behavioral Health, with a focus on Medication-Assisted Treatment and "culturally appropriate substance abuse programs in an opioid hotspot," Women’s Infants and Children supplemental nutrition program and the Ryan White Program, including HIV/AIDS prevention and clinical services.

Community spaces in the new building include a training room with advanced technology to support learning programs like ESL, digital health literacy and job training. Space for other programming that supports community needs like food insecurity and chronic illness with training in nutrition and demonstration kitchen.