Raleigh, N.C.-based Wake Health Services plans to build a new health center that will nearly double the system's patient capacity in an area of the city community leaders have said is in need of better access to medical care, according to News & Observer.
Construction of the $13 million new facility in Southeast Raleigh is already underway. It will serve approximately 35,000 people in Wake and Franklin counties, according to the report. As one of about three-dozen community health centers in North Carolina, nonprofit Wake Health Services aims to provide access to primary care physicians for those in need, primarily Medicaid patients. It relies heavily on federal grants for funding.
"There are a lot of primary care physicians in this community," Penny Washington, CEO of Wake Health Services told the News & Observer. "There are few that are willing to take Medicaid, Medicare or the uninsured population."
Wake Health Services plans to move four of its Southeast Raleigh practices into the new building, including pediatrics, dental practices, family healthcare and healthcare for the homeless programs, according to the report.
The new facility will be the largest medical facility in Wake County other than the hospitals, according to Adam Hartzell, development officer for Wake Health Services.