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The Rockaway Times
THURSDAY, APRIL 12, 2018
Addabbo Health Center Breaks Ground On New Expansion By Kami-Leigh Agard
On Tuesday, April 10, more than a hundred people gathered to celebrate the groundbreaking of the Joseph P. Addabbo Family Health Center’s expansion at a vacant lot adjacent to the center’s headquarters located at 6200 Beach Channel Drive. It was indeed a ground-breaking occasion, as local pols, civic and church leaders, the health center’s board, staff and patients, and community residents together congregated to forever monumentalize what everyone envisioned and hoped for the center and the community — a bigger, more equipped and resilient multi-purpose medical facility in Rockaway, a community rated as a federally-designated medically underserved area. Addabbo’s CEO Dr. Marjorie Hill declared to the crowd, “Today is a cross between a bar mitzvah and Kwanzaa occasion. It indeed takes a village, to build a community health center. We are so grateful for
the generosity, support and guidance from elected officials, corporate supporters, and community partners — all contributed to the building of our dream for expanded healthcare access for the underserved in Queens, not just those of us living in Rockaway, but patients from surrounding communities seeking quality healthcare.” Following the closing of multiple hospitals in South Queens, including nearby Peninsula Hospital, Addabbo experienced an influx of new patients. Likewise, after Hurricane Sandy struck in 2012, the health center was one of only two clinics serving area residents. During this time, as the healthcare crisis in Queens began to peak, the need for more resilient medical facilities became even more severe. In 2013, the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) issued the “The Beach Channel Drive Development Site Request For Proposals” to identify a developer to acquire and rede-
velop a vacant city-owned parcel located adjacent to Addabbo’s current building. Given the growing need for additional space, Addabbo enlisted the Denham Wolf team to assist in preparing a proposal to purchase the vacant land and expand its building. Based on a well-crafted proposal that showcased Addabbo’s capacity, a dedicated planning process, financial feasibility, and a highly supportive community, Addabbo was selected as developer and
executed a purchase and sales agreement with NYCEDC. Partnering with the NYCEDC were the Primary Care Development Corporation (PCDC), who completed $22.5M in financing to transform the health center, enlisting Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Building America CDE to assist with critical funding. The expansion will transform nearly every aspect of Addabbo’s headquarters including: DouContinued on page 11
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