A local nonprofit is expanding, with increased services and a new location.
Action Wellness, in partnership with The Family Practice & Counseling Network (FPCN), will now offer primary-care services 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday, Tuesday and Thursday at the Annex West Health Center, 3901 Market St. To accommodate this growth, Action Wellness also opened an office at 3600 Market St. in June.
“Our mission is to help people access care with HIV and other chronic illnesses and I think having the combination of services is a one-stop-shopping kind of model,” said Action Wellness Executive Director Kevin Burns.
Burns said Action Wellness’ goal is to offer primary-care services up to five days a week, noting the value of more hours and locations.
“Some of our clients want to be seen at an office that’s not in their neighborhood and some want to be seen in their neighborhood,” Burns said. “The more options we have for people, the more likely they are going to stay connected, especially if the office is convenient, accessible and welcoming.”
“It’s a real opportunity for us to do other health screenings, including testing for HIV,” Burns added. “So I’m hoping it will help us to identify people who are HIV-positive and not aware of their status as they begin to get services from us.”
Action Wellness and FPCN partnered in January 2015 to open the Annex West Health Center. The fully staffed clinic provides primary-care, behavioral-health and preventative services. It previously offered these services one day a week before increasing to three days.
Emily Nichols, FPCN’s director of operations, said she was excited for the expansion.
“Our HIV patients need increased services,” Nichols said. “They have a host of issues going on. So to be able to use Action Wellness’ expertise for more of our patients is really exciting for us.”
Burns said FPCN has been “phenomenal” and “generous” during the duration of their partnership.
“They work with clients where they’re at, which is very much what we do,” Burns said. “We have a real social-work model and they share that value with us. I think the thing that has been so nice is that we have a lot of shared values and philosophies about how we want our sites to be welcoming to people and they share that.”
For more information, visit ActionWellness.org.