One-Stop-Shop Health: The Blackstone Valley Community Health Center continues to thrive

Since its opening in June, the Blackstone Valley Community Health Center, a “one stop shop” for people’s medical needs, has been steadily working toward its goal to serve the entire Central Falls population (roughly 20,000 people); as of this writing, it has seen 13,000 people. In one place, people can receive mental health care, physical therapy, urgent care, lab testing, X rays and dentistry, and pick up their prescriptions. Soon, the Health Station also will offer optometry. Before the Health Station, it was burdensome for Central Falls residents to find affordable medical care  because only a few medical practitioners had a practice in the area. Now, thanks to the Health Station, medical care is more effective and seeking it is more convenient. 

Dr. Michael Fine conceptualized the Health Station after a meeting in 2013 with the Rhode Island Department of Health where department members asked what Central Falls needs. Dr. Fine and the Department of Health agreed Central Falls needed better access to primary care. To explain the concept, he says, “If a person is at the dentist and the dentist sees this person has high blood pressure, then they can also be seen by their regular doctor at the same place.” It’s these relationships between a person and their medical practioners that allow for effective care. 

In addition to cutting down on the travel patients have to make between facilities and doctors, the Health Station has made medical care more affordable. “We offer a sliding scale and we don’t turn anyone away, regardless of [their ability to] pay,” says Dr. Fine. Staff members will also help those eligible for Medicaid enroll for it at the Health Station. The Health Station also makes healthcare more accessible by offering express care (meaning if you’re sick and you need to be seen that day, you will be), and  many of the practitioners speak Spanish and Creole.

Of course, with any new endeavour, there’s room for improvement. “I want to bring the vaccination rate up to 90% [from its current rate of 46% – 47%],” says Dr. Fine. He also wants to contact smokers and let them know about the resources the Health Station has to help them quit. To date, the Health Station has helped 155 people quit. Dr. Fine would also like for those who are undocumented to have access to medical insurance, and he is currently encouraging specialists to visit the Health Station to see patients. 

Dr. Fine’s long-term vision is to make the Health Station into a medical and community center. He wants to “build a gym, pool, barber shop and hair salon, laundromat, and library so it’s easy for people to come in and check in.” He says only 30% of people in America have real primary care relationships. He wants to change this for a population that could use the change the most. At the Health Station, this change is happening and more is on the way.