A new health clinic is expected to open in South Portland in December with the support of $1.7 million in federal grants, Congresswoman Chellie Pingree has announced.

The clinic will be funded by a program created through the Affordable Care Act that funds clinics to make basic health care services more accessible. The clinic is expected to open in December in the Redbank/Brick Hill area, although a location has not yet been selected. More than 17,000 low-income people live in the city, according to Pingree’s office.

The $1.7 million allocation will sustain the clinic for two years, when administrators may apply for continued federal funding. The grant will provide $355,848 in start-up costs, and then $650,000 annually for the next two years, Pingree’s office said. The clinic is expected to serve about 2,250 people each year.

“I applaud Portland Community Health Center and its partners in identifying the need for these services in South Portland and winning this competitive funding,” Pingree said in a statement. “This community health center will make a huge difference for Mainers who are struggling to afford care—a number that has increased because of the state’s refusal to expand access to Medicaid.”

The Portland Community Health Center, which itself was established under the same grant program, applied for this round of funding and will establish the South Portland clinic. Services will focus on preventative care, chronic disease management, mental health and substance abuse.

More than 700 such clinics have been opened across the nation since the ACA was passed in 2009.

CORRECTION: This story was updated at 9:21 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 20 to clarify the number of low-income people in South Portland.

 

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