Community Health Center Breaks Ground on School-Based Clinic

Politicians, healthcare professionals and educators came together on Tuesday to celebrate the groundbreaking of the ’s new school-based health clinic at , a facility that will eventually provide primary care, dental care and mental health services to 600 students and members of the South End community.

The South End non-profit will be renovating over 1,000 square feet of vacant space at the corner of Shawmut and West Newton Street and adding two exam rooms, two dental care rooms and three mental health offices to serve the student population next door. After school hours, the facility will be open to community members, taking some of the stress off the health center’s Washington Street headquarters.

“We’re bursting at the seams,” Executive Director Bob Johnson acknowledged on Tuesday.

Ironically, the South End Community Health Center will be returning to its roots in its expansion to 400 Shawmut, where the non-profit was founded over 40 years ago. The newly renovated space will be named for the man who started it all – Dr. Gerald Hass.

In addition to the school-based clinic, the health center will also be opening a satellite location with four mental health offices to serve an overflow of clients from the community. The health center has also identified additional vacant space for future build-out.

Construction on the school-based clinic should be completed next February, taking the burden off Blackstone’s nurse, and giving parents an affordable healthcare option that doesn’t require pulling students out of school for appointments.

“School-based health clinics provide a place our families can trust,” said Blackstone Principal Cynthia Paris-Jeffries on Tuesday. “We’re thrilled to have them back on the school grounds.”

Over two-thirds of the project’s $700,000 price tag will be funded by stimulus money; the health center was awarded a sizeable grant by the Health Resources and Services Administration just six weeks ago. The funding was a much-needed victory for the health center, which was after a tough round of budget cuts.

“We thought we would never get that grant,” Johnson said on Tuesday, surrounded by supporters.

Along with District 2 City Councilor Bill Linehan, Mayor Thomas Menino stopped by the Shawmut Ave. worksite to recognize the hard work of Johnson and Paris-Jeffries.

"I just want to thank you...for what you’re doing for the young people of this neighborhood," he said. “A healthy child is ready to learn and achieve academic success.”