| MISSION North Side Christian Health Center is a Christian ministry that provides comprehensive primary health care to underserved and uninsured persons on the Northside and surrounding neighborhoods. VISION We envision a community where people of all backgrounds and affiliations are actively engaged in maintaining healthy lifestyles and preventing chronic disease, and where people take specific steps on their own behalf to ensure good health and a long life. |
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| North Side Christian Health Center on Middle Street, three blocks north of East Ohio Street Opened August 2008 |
| Northview Heights Health Center on Mt. Pleasant Road opened January 2008 |
Pittsburgh's Northside has lagged behind the rest of the city and the county in health and education.
Economic factors inhibit members of the target population from seeking the care they need.
Unemployment sits at over 10.2% for the entire Northside and as high as 31.6% in the Northview Heights
public housing complex. Of the neighborhood's 48,000 residents, 21,000 live below 200% poverty, and a
majority of these residents are African-American. Rates of diabetes, dental disease, infant mortality, and
teen pregnancy are 11%, 30%, 200% and 260% higher than the rest of the county, respectively.
High unemployment leads to gaps in healthcare insurance. Indeed, 5,700 individuals in the service area
have no insurance at all. Only 28% hold private insurance, indicating that the jobs that are available to
area residents have few or no benefits. Many Northside residents lack the means to find better jobs:
nearly one-quarter of the entire Northside over age 25 lacks a high school education. Low educational
attainment and poor economic indicators almost always guarantee dismal health.
NSCHC is working to change things by filling in the healthcare gap - and we are not working alone.
Pittsburgh is a nationally recognized leader in healthcare, but the region's health boom has also starkly
illuminated health disparities. Local foundations and corporations have recognized that in order to deem
our city's health infrastructure truly excellent, we must not neglect the underserved. In the past year, our
projects for capital/relocation, operation of the Northview Heights public housing health center, and
establishment of our first pediatric program were the grateful beneficiaries of a number of committed
supporters. Our community partnerships have allowed for unexpected benefits for our patients, such as
input from the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh into an active play area in the waiting room on the
pediatric floor of our new building.
For 15 years, North Side Christian Health Center (NSCHC) has been a refuge and healing resource
providing affordable, excellent quality primary health care and non-medical social services to the
unemployed and working families living in the City of Pittsburgh's North Side neighborhoods. From the
start-up by three mission-motivated young doctors in 1993, the limited financial resources for operating a
community clinic and an urban commercial district setting made this a challenging task.
In 1995, a 5,000-square-foot storefront on East Ohio Street was donated to the Health Center by PNC
Bank to serve as the NSCHC clinic. Over the years, patients kept coming until a full time schedule was in
place by 2002, federally qualified health center look-alike status was conferred by the US Health
Resources and Services Administration, and enrollment had increased to 4,481 patients and 13,203
encounters in 2007. We outgrew the cramped space on East Ohio Street and could no longer
accommodate the demand for services. Wait lists had been started and this is unacceptable to us since
many of our patients have chronic illnesses and cannot wait to see their doctor. It took a 3-year period of
planning, raising funds, building acquisition and renovations, then our glorious reward came on August 27,
2008, with the move 3 blocks around the corner to 816 Middle Street. The 4-storey, five floor historic
building we renovated last year has tripled our capacity and been a transformative experience for the
Health Center. What was clear from opening day is the powerful statement we made to our patients and
the community through this excellent new resource for family primary care in a Medically Underserved and
Health Provider Shortage Area.
providing affordable, excellent quality primary health care and non-medical social services to the
unemployed and working families living in the City of Pittsburgh's North Side neighborhoods. From the
start-up by three mission-motivated young doctors in 1993, the limited financial resources for operating a
community clinic and an urban commercial district setting made this a challenging task.
In 1995, a 5,000-square-foot storefront on East Ohio Street was donated to the Health Center by PNC
Bank to serve as the NSCHC clinic. Over the years, patients kept coming until a full time schedule was in
place by 2002, federally qualified health center look-alike status was conferred by the US Health
Resources and Services Administration, and enrollment had increased to 4,481 patients and 13,203
encounters in 2007. We outgrew the cramped space on East Ohio Street and could no longer
accommodate the demand for services. Wait lists had been started and this is unacceptable to us since
many of our patients have chronic illnesses and cannot wait to see their doctor. It took a 3-year period of
planning, raising funds, building acquisition and renovations, then our glorious reward came on August 27,
2008, with the move 3 blocks around the corner to 816 Middle Street. The 4-storey, five floor historic
building we renovated last year has tripled our capacity and been a transformative experience for the
Health Center. What was clear from opening day is the powerful statement we made to our patients and
the community through this excellent new resource for family primary care in a Medically Underserved and
Health Provider Shortage Area.
| All rights reserved, June 2008. Site design by Michael Genuardi and Eric Ojerholm. |
History
The Northside
In January 2008, after being selected by the
Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh,
NSCHC assumed operations of the
Northview Heights Public Housing Health
Center. We are the only health center
located within the public housing system in
Pittsburgh, and we provide primary care for
the 2600 residents of Northview Heights,
the city's largest public housing complex.
Patients receive treatment at either of our
sites without regard to ability to pay via a
sliding-fee scale for patients without
adequate insurance coverage.
Former location of North Side Christian Health
Center, East Ohio Street in Pittsburgh's
Historic Deutschtown. 1995-2008
Center, East Ohio Street in Pittsburgh's
Historic Deutschtown. 1995-2008
In the community: The needed care, where it's needed.
