William F. Ryan Community Health Center
William F. Ryan Community Health Center
Grant Status
Completed
Project Title
Thelma C. Davidson Adair Community Health Center Acquisition
Award Amount
$200,001
Location
New York, NY
Website
Date Awarded
October 14, 2009
In early 2009, Columbia University announced its intent to close the Thelma C. Davidson Adair Community Health Center (Thelma Adair) located in the medically underserved communities of Central Harlem. The closing of Thelma Adair—which currently provides 7,000 service encounters a year—would cause its patients to lose a medical home, and unmet community health needs would skyrocket as a result of the loss of the only community health care center in the area. With NYSHealth support, the William F. Ryan Community Health Center will acquire and operate Thelma Adair as an addition to its Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) network.
This acquisition will allow Ryan to consolidate primary care services, operate the facility at full capacity, and add additional primary care services. The designation of Thelma Adair as an FQHC within the Ryan Network will enable it to receive higher reimbursement rates and achieve sustainability. Ryan has a proven track record of acquiring other hospital-operated ambulatory care centers in urban settings and restructuring them as FQHCs to meet the needs of underserved communities.