$20M project could double Homewood health center’s size
A Homewood medical center is preparing for a $20 million project that could soon double its size.
Primary Care Health Services Inc. is planning to rebuild its Alma Illery Medical Center on Hamilton Avenue, enlarging the building to 35,000 to 40,000 square feet from 20,000 square feet. The new center will expand its pharmacy to include retail service — the community’s first retail drugstore in years, CEO Jerome Gloster said.
“This is very exciting for us,” said Dr. Gloster, a 57-year-old pediatrician, PCHS chief medical officer and assistant pastor at Bethany Baptist Church in Homewood.
A fundraising campaign for the project, which began in January, will continue through the end of the year, with groundbreaking planned in 2023 and completion anticipated by the fall of 2024, said Dr. Gloster, an East Liberty native. Eden Hall Foundation has been leading the fundraising.
In addition to physician and dental offices, the new building will house PCHS’s corporate headquarters, Healthy Start, a program to reduce infant mortality, and Homewood Children’s Village, a youth organization. The center currently operates a discount pharmacy for patients under the federal government’s 340B program, which requires participating drug manufacturers to provide medications at a low cost.
The new clinic will allow expansion of behavioral health, opioid abuse treatment and other services, Dr. Gloster said.
PCHS, the biggest Federally Qualified Health Center in Allegheny County, operates nine clinics including Alma Illery, offering medical, dental and behavioral health care. FQHCs are community-based medical providers funded by the Health Resources and Services Administration to meet the needs of underserved populations.
Dr. Gloster said that about half of Alma Illery’s patients are impoverished. The neighborhood also has experienced violent crime, including eight shooting deaths since New Year’s Eve, including 13- and 15-year-old boys in separate incidents.
PCHS, which receives funding from HRSA, employs 130 people and has an annual budget of $12 million.