THE NEW YORK CITY COUNCIL ALLOCATES
$1.5 MILLION TO THE PRIMARY CARE DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION TO CONTINUE PRIMARY CARE EMERGENCY PREPARDNESS

New York, NY, July 3, 2006—The Primary Care Development Corporation (PCDC) has received $1.5 million from the New York City Council to continue to deliver and expand their Emergency Preparedness program to primary care centers in underserved communities in New York City. This training will ensure that community-based health centers are prepared to respond to all types of emergencies including, identifying outbreaks, responding to bioterrorism, and providing culturally relevant information to patients.    

“Although not first responders, primary care centers are the frontline source of care in the communities, and currently most primary care centers in the City have no capacity or infrastructure to address emergency preparedness on their own,” says Ronda Kotelchuck, Executive Director of PCDC.”

The funding from City Council will provide advanced emergency preparedness training to 20 sites that have already completed the basic training as well as, expand the basic program to an additional 20 primary care sites.

“PCDC has provided the structure and support necessary to enable us to develop a coherent and relevant emergency preparedness plan,” says Reinaldo Gonzalez, CEO of Settlement Health. Settlement Health, located in East Harlem, was one of the first community health centers to participate in PCDC’s basic training for emergency preparedness, and with the allotted funding from City Council, Settlement Health will now participate in the advanced proportion of the program.

PCDC is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to expanding access to timely, effective primary and preventive care by providing capital and performance improvement programs to primary care providers in underserved communities. Since 1993, PCDC has invested in 58 projects, valued at $172 million, at sites that care for some 380,000 low-income New Yorkers and provide 1,800 permanent jobs in their communities. PCDC has another nine projects in development across the state valued at over $22 million. PCDC also has assisted over 230 primary care center teams at over 50 sites to implement changes that revolutionize how centers organize and deliver healthcare—reducing wait times and other barriers to care; increasing productivity, revenue, and patient and staff satisfaction; and providing patient-focused care.