Community Health Center to Open in Milford

A satellite of the Edward M. Kennedy Community Health Center will open in Milford this year, a new addition that advocates say will focus on primary care and provide a local option to centers in other communities.

Two regional health care foundations have contributed $1.2 million to the effort: The Health Foundation of Central Massachusetts and MetroWest Health Foundation. 

The facility will open at 42 Cape Road this fall. The Kennedy Community Health Center is based in Worcester, with other branches in Framingham and Clinton.

One-in-five patients at the Milford Regional Medical Center's emergency room now lacks access to a primary care doctor, said Frank Saba, Chief Executive Officer of the medical center, in a press release.

"Our Milford Healthcare System already has many dedicated, talented and hardworking Primary Care Physicians caring for many of the residents of our communities. Providing additional access to high quality Primary Care services with the establishment of the Kennedy Center in Milford will help us and all of our physician colleagues to continue to make progress on one of most important goals: that being, to improve the health and overall well-being of everyone in our service area," he said.

In the press release, the leaders of the health foundations said the new center will provide essential services.

Said Janice B. Yost, president of The Health Foundation: “In 2010, Milford Regional Medical Center approached The Health Foundation for support in addressing this community’s concern about improving access to health care. We responded by providing grant funding that enabled the medical center to create and lead a broad-based community coalition to study the access issue and find the best solution. We have been impressed by the Coalition’s work, and have thus far committed a total of $827,195 for the planning and establishment of a satellite community health center in Milford."

The MetroWest Health Foundation provided $400,000 in grants for construction and operation of the satellite community health center, said Martin Cohen, foundation president. “Expanding community health centers brings affordable quality health care to our most vulnerable citizens," he said. "This has been a long-term goal of the MetroWest Health Foundation and we are proud to join with our many partners in bringing these needed services to the Milford community."