Groundbreaking begins at Pike Family Health Center
LORDS VALLEY — A groundbreaking ceremony on July 10 launched a major expansion of the Pike Family Health Center in Lords Valley that will add behavioral health and dental services to the center's offerings.
The project will add 5,000 square feet to its existing facility and is due for completion in early 2014.
Frederick Jackson, executive director of Wayne Memorial Community Health Centers, which runs the center, said behavioral health providers will begin seeing patients before the addition is complete "because of a critical need for their services in the Pike County community."
He said these needs were highlighted in a Community Health Needs Assessment (www.wmh.org), a study that Wayne Memorial used to secure a $1.4 million Building Capacity grant awarded in May 2012 through the Affordable Care Act.
The Lords Valley Behavioral Health Center will serve as an outpatient treatment facility for behavioral and mental health services for adults, adolescents, and children. The new providers include board-certified psychiatrist Rashesh Dholakia and registered nurse practitioner Linda Lane, who is board-certified in adult psychiatric-mental health. Currently, appointments can be scheduled at the Behavioral Health Center in Honesdale four days a week and one day weekly at Lords Valley by calling 570-253-8219.
The dental clinic, to serve both adults and children, will be an extension of the Together for Health Dental Center in Honesdale. The Lords Valley facility will be fully equipped with five operating rooms for comprehensive dental services. The staff will be made up of two dentists, Robert Fredericks and Stephanie Bloss, and dental hygienist Grace Shoemaker.
Wayne Memorial Community Health Centers is a clinical affiliate of Wayne Memorial Health System. Forty people turned out at the groundbreaking, including county commissioners, Blooming Grove government officials, Wayne Memorial board members, and existing and newly recruited staff. Jackson said the group had worked collaboratively to bring the first phase of the project to fruition.
“I’m happy to say that even prior to having this addition built, we had successfully secured excellent providers for both behavioral health and dental services to meet the needs of the expanded facility," he said.
Wayne Memorial Community Health Centers serves both the privately insured and the under-and-uninsured. It accepts Medical Assistance and CHIP and offers a sliding fee for services based on income.
The Pike County facility now offers primary care and women’s health services. For more information, on all services, visit wmh.org/WMCHC or call 570-253-6676.