New York, N.Y. – The Primary Care Development Corporation (PCDC) and Apicha Community Health Center (Apicha) announced that they have closed on financing to support the renovation of Apicha’s Downtown Manhattan health center. The project, valued at $2.2 million, will expand clinical services and improve patients’ access to affordable medications.
Apicha is a federally qualified health center that has historically cared for people of Asian or Pacific Island descent, people with HIV/AIDS, and people who identify as LGBT. Over the past few years, Apicha has sought to deepen its relationship to and draw more patients from its immediate geography, in particular Chinatown and the Lower East Side of Manhattan. The renovation, including a new, more visible entrance, is expected to support this goal by increasing its clinical capacity by 30%, to reach 16,700 visits by 2021.
“This renovation is very important to us and the patients we strive to care for,” said Therese Rodriguez, CEO of Apicha. “We are grateful to PCDC for seeing our vision of providing quality, affordable health care to more of the residents of lower Manhattan and more of the city’s LGBT community and people living with HIV/AIDS. Helping us add more exam rooms makes that vision a reality.”
“PCDC is proud to be able to once again support Apicha,” said Anne Dyjak, PCDC Managing Director. “Apicha draws patients from great distances across the city who recognize and value the organization’s compassionate and culturally competent care. This expansion project will help the center better serve those existing patients while strengthening its relationships in the local community.”
The financial support for the project includes a $1.6 million loan from PCDC and a $160,000 grant from the New York City Council. PCDC provided a prior loan to Apicha in July 2014 to recapitalize the organization, which helped to pave the way for this project.
About Apicha
For over 26 years, Apicha CHC has reached and provided care to some of the most marginalized people in New York City. Apicha CHC’s provision of HIV/AIDS-related services since its inception, from street outreach to HIV primary care, has resulted in a patient-centered service delivery model that has created both a safe space and safety net for People Living with HIV/AIDS, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) individuals, Asian & Pacific Islanders (A&PIs) and people from other communities of color (COCs). These communities face many barriers to care including poverty, language isolation and lack of health insurance. To overcome these barriers, Apicha CHC offers informed, high-quality culturally and linguistically appropriate general primary care, sexual health and robust enabling services.
About PCDC
Founded in 1993, the Primary Care Development Corporation (PCDC) is a nationally recognized nonprofit organization dedicated to expanding access to quality primary care, in order to improve the health of families and communities, lessen disparities and reduce health care costs. PCDC offers training and technical assistance on providing health care services that are accessible, high-quality, and compassionate; affordable capital to renovate and expand community health centers so that services are offered in settings that promote efficiency, dignity, and respect; and advocacy to advance public policies that strengthen and sustain quality primary care. To date, PCDC has helped over 1,000 primary care practices improve delivery of care and leveraged over $750 million on projects that enhance capacity in low-income communities.
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Media Contacts
Apicha
Phillip Miner, MLS, 646.884.5384, pminer@apicha.org
PCDC
Michael Cook, 212.437.3929, mcook@pcdc.org