New Community Health Care Clinic Opens in Little Haiti

May 13, 2011 - PRLog -- Miami, FL – May 13, 2011 – Borinquen Health Care Center, Inc. announced the opening of its newest clinic, The Carrie Meek Clinic on Friday, April 29 in an affordable housing residence developed by Carlisle Development Group and Biscayne Housing Group in Miami’s Little Haiti. The community health care center is the sixth Borinquen clinic to open in the Miami-Dade area and the first to be built in an affordable housing residence.
“The opening of this new clinic is just another step on our path to continued success during our long history of providing healthcare services to the community,” said Paul Velez, Chief Administrative Officer of Borinquen Health Care Center. “We are grateful that we were given the opportunity to open the clinic in a place that is incredibly convenient for our patients.”

The new clinic, named after Congresswoman Carrie Meek, officially opened its doors late last month after a ribbon-cutting ceremony with the congresswoman and community leaders from the City of Miami, City of North Miami, Miami-Dade County, State of Florida and the U.S. Congress. Attendees included U.S. Congresswoman Corrine Brown, former Congressman Kendrick Meek, City of Miami Mayor Tomas Regalado, City of North Miami Mayor Andre Pierre, Commissioner Audrey Edmonson, Commissioner Jean Monestime, along with representatives from the Miami-Dade Department of Health and members from the Miami-Dade County Public School Board.

Borinquen Health Care Center has been providing a comprehensive range of health and social services to the residents of Miami-Dade County for the past 38 years. As a testament to their dedication to providing quality care, the company’s Behavioral Health Resource Center was recently named the recipient of the prestigious 2011 Behavioral Health Pacesetter Award by The Annapolis Coalition on Behavioral Health Workforce in partnership with The Hitachi Foundation. The award acknowledges exemplary workforce practices in community-based behavioral health. Borinquen Health Care Center is dedicated to providing services to improve the quality of life of residents in the most medically underserved areas of the city. The new Carrie Meek Clinic will provide primary, dental, behavioral and health education services.

“Congresswoman Meek has been committed to providing affordable quality health care for Miami’s poor, uninsured and working class families,” said Velez. “Through her foundation, she worked closely with the developers of Villa Patricia Towers, Carlisle Development Group and Biscayne Housing Group, to have them provide the space and funding for the build-out of this clinic.”

The new health clinic was built on the ground floor of the affordable housing residence Villa Patricia Towers on the corner of NE 2nd Avenue and 78th Street. For the next two months, the clinic will be open two days a week (Tuesdays and Thursdays) with a physician until July when it will open four days a week. The clinic will have one licensed physician on staff and plans to add an additional provider by fall. There will also be a registration staff, a phlebotomist and a medical assistant.

Congresswoman Carrie Meek, former member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1993 to 2003, was the first African-American elected to Congress from Florida since Reconstruction. Rep. Meek has dedicated her time and service to the community as a public servant, college administrator and educator. She has taken this lifelong dedication of working for others to found The Carrie Meek Foundation, a not for profit corporation which encourages investment and partnerships in the diverse urban inner-city neighborhoods of Miami-Dade County, improving the overall quality of life, and building a stronger community.

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About Borinquen Health Care Center, Inc.
Borinquen Health Care Center, Inc., a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC), has been serving the medically underserved areas of Miami-Dade County for approximately 39 years. Borinquen’s commitment is to increase access to quality care and reduce the health disparities that exist between the multicultural, racial and ethnic groups and the rest of the population. Their mission is to provide a comprehensive range of health care, education and support services to improve the quality of life of its clients. In 2009, Borinquen provided services to 22,759 individuals throughout Miami-Dade County amassing a total of 74,040 encounters. In 2010, Borinquen provided services to 25,000 individuals throughout Miami-Dade County and amassed approximately 80,000 patient encounters or visits. For more information please visit www.borinquenhealth.org.