Family Health Center of Worcester to close three locations, layoff staff
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The Family Health Center of Worcester at 26 Queen St.
The Family Health Center of Worcester on Friday said it will close two locations in Southbridge, and a dental program in the Webster Public Schools, while laying off or furloughing about 10% of its staff.
The Southbridge Family Medicine and Southbridge Family Dental Care, both on Orchard Street in Southbridge, will close at 5 p.m. on Dec. 1, according to a fact sheet released by the organization. The facilities have been in operation since 2013.
The Judith Ruskin Oral Health Clinic, which operates in the Webster Public Schools, will close this fall.
The health center, which operates its main location at 26 Queen St. in Worcester, will lay off 35 employees and furlough 15, according to a Friday news story by the Worcester Telegram & Gazette. Officials at FHCW didn’t confirm those numbers on Monday morning in a separate request by WBJ.
The Family Health Center of Worcester is a federally qualified health center, serving low-income communities, with urgent care, family medicine, behavioral health and health care for homeless families, among other services.
In 2021, the center had about 500 employees and $38 million in annual revenue. The organization has more than 30,000 patients, 95% who are low income and 75% who identify as a ethnic or racial minority.
In the initial phase of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, community health centers like the Family Health Center struggled with the medical crisis while dealing with significant shifts in its funding, and the Family Health Center had considered furloughing its staff. The center has remained in operation over that time and received a number of grants to aid in varying efforts, including $50,000 at the end of 2020 to provide care for families of color, $50,000 for leadership training as part of an award it received for community service, $23,000 for facility improvements, and $20,000 to buy thermometers for newborn families.
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