Dear Friends,
This post is to inform you that Family Health Center of Worcester, Inc. has made the decision to permanently close our Southbridge sites: Family Health Center – Southbridge Family Medicine, Family Health Center – Southbridge Family Dental Care. We will also be closing our school-based Judith Ruskin Oral Health Clinic within the Webster Public Schools effective December 1, 2022.
The decision to sunset our presence in the community of Southbridge was a difficult one. Since 2013, Family Health Center has provided the community of Southbridge with high-quality primary medical and dental care. During that time, our team of providers have helped thousands of patients achieve the best state of health possible. The Judith Ruskin Oral Health Clinic opened in 2007 to meet the need of pediatric dental access in a community with a dearth of options for lower-income patients.
Unprecedented public health and economic challenges have significantly affected our health center, requiring substantial financial and resource investment over the past several years. These recent events have put the health center on an unsustainable financial trajectory, leading health center leadership to make these hard decisions in order to preserve the overall health of the agency.
We recognize this decision comes with real-world consequences for our staff and the South Worcester County community, but we remain committed to upholding continuity of care throughout this transition. Our providers and administrators are hard at work developing a wide-array of options to accommodate the needs of our patients including transfer to our main site at 26 Queen Street, Telehealth appointments, and referrals to high-quality external providers.
Thank you to the countless community partners, local leaders, staff, and patients that welcomed us to South Worcester County and enabled Family Health Center to serve your communities for the past several years.
We appreciate your understanding during this challenging time and thank you for your continued support as we look to the next fifty years of community health.
To learn more about these upcoming changes, read our FAQ.
Sincerely,
Louis Brady
President & CEO
Family Health Center of Worcesterou
