MILFORD  — The Edward M. Kennedy Community Health Center is relocating and 

expanding its Milford facility in the coming year.

The new expanded facility will be located across the street from its current site at 41 Cape Road. The buildout of the new healthcare facility is expected to start at the beginning of 2022 and the new facility is expected to be fully operational in the fall.

“This opportunity to open up a new expanded health center in Milford comes as the need for affordable, culturally- and linguistically competent care continues to grow in this region,” said Kennedy Community Health President and CEO Stephen Kerrigan.  “The need for increased services is clear since our Milford team is now serving close to 5,000 patients a year, growing from over 7,000 visits in 2014 to over 15,000 visits in 2019.  In addition, the new facility will allow us to offer dental, optometry and pharmacy services, which we were unable to do in our current, storefront space.”

The Edward M. Kennedy Community Health Center was originally called the Great Brook Valley Health Center, Inc. The GBVHC was founded in 1972 by seven women who lived in Worcester’s largest public housing complex and wanted access to more comprehensive healthcare services because they relied on area emergency rooms for medical services.

According to www.kennedychc.org, the mission of the Edward M. Kennedy Community Health Center is to provide “services to everyone, regardless of ability to pay.” The center offers bilingual medical services and accepts most health insurance plans, including MassHealth (Medicaid), Medicare and other public programs. It also offers assistance to those who are eligible to sign up for health insurance.

Today, the Edward M. Kennedy Community Health is a federally qualified, nonprofit, community health center with three medical facilities, two dental sites, two optometry sites, and six school-based centers that serve over 26,000 patients in Worcester, Framingham, Milford, and surrounding communities in Central Massachusetts.

The new Milford facility will nearly triple the size of the current facility on 42 Cape Road. The new facility is projected to be about 15,000 square feet in total, with two floors. The expanded facility will increase the total number of medical exam rooms in Milford from 9 to 15, as well as increase the office space for behavioral health and other social services offered at the site. The new facility also plans on launching new dental, optometry and pharmacy services there as well. 

“Our team is extremely excited about moving to a new, larger facility, which will give us the capacity to meet the demand for our services and accommodate the health care needs of this growing community,” said Dr. Cynthia Norton, the medical director of the Kennedy Community Health Center in Milford. “The new health center with the addition of dental, optometry and pharmacy services will also allow us to provide this region with a true patient-centered medical home. We couldn’t be more pleased.”