PUNXSUTAWNEY, Pa. (EYT) – Primary Health Network’s Community Health Center opened in January 2011 on Prushnok Drive in Punxsutawney.
“As a Community Health Center, we are dedicated to serving the needs of all the residents in that particular community,” Sara Rupp, Marketing Director at Primary Health Network, told exploreJeffersonPA.com.
The first Community Health Centers (CHCs) were established in 1965 and were primarily built in inner-city neighborhoods and rural communities.
According to the National Association of Community Health Centers, starting in Boston, Massachusetts, and Mound Bayou, Mississippi, these centers were built with the purpose of getting healthcare to those with difficulties of access and/or affordability of care.
Today, CHCs have expanded across the nation amounting to over 1,400 different centers which served 30 million people in 2021 according to a recent study by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO).
The Primary Health Network is the largest CHC in the state with almost 50 locations across Pennsylvania and northeast Ohio that staff 150 physicians, dentists, psychiatrists, physician assistants, and certified nurse practitioners, plus 400 support staff.
“At PHN (Primary Health Network), we focus on treating the whole person,” Rupp explained. “We’ve integrated a lot of our services under one roof which is very convenient and is great for providers as far as team-based care goes.”
Punxsutawney’s PHN Community Health Center located at 200 Prushnok Drive offers family medicine and internal medicine, behavioral health and collaborative care services from a variety of providers.
Additionally, Telehealth Services are available when appropriate for the patient.
What Differentiates a Primary Health Network CHC from Private Practices
“At Primary Health Network, our patients are the center of our focus. We take various measures to ensure that we remove common barriers most face when accessing healthcare services, including offering patient-enabling programs such as free transportation services to and from appointments, the community health worker program, a sliding fee discount program, and collaborative care, to name a few.”
Affordability is one of the biggest factors when choosing a provider for medical care.
For those individuals who have little to no insurance, PHN offers a sliding fee discount to patients who federally qualify based on Federal Poverty Guidelines that factor in elements such as family size and income, allowing patients to pay as little as zero dollars for services.
“Although our brand is very standardized across each health center, services are very much based on the needs assessment in that community.
“When you see one community health center, you’ve seen one community health center,” Rupp emphasized.
Rupp added that working with emergency departments in educating the community helps save taxpayers money by limiting unnecessary emergency room visits.
In addition to health-related care, Primary Health Network looks to give back to the community through charitable foundations that provide healthcare scholarships to students who are pursuing a career in the healthcare field, as well as reading and literacy programs.
PHN seeks accreditation through The Joint Commission which is an enterprise that is “dedicated to improving the quality of the nation’s healthcare through voluntary accreditation.” PHN has been accredited nine times by this independent auditing organization since 1997.
Sara Rupp, states, “Community Health Centers, like Primary Health Network, go above and beyond to ensure equitable access to quality healthcare services. “Even though our footprint is widespread, we are centered on the mission of what community health centers stand for.”
For more information about the Clarion site, visit their website at https://www.primary-health.net/county/jefferson/.
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