PHOTO BY CHUCK HOVEN

Thursday, October 3, 2019, Grand Opening of Neighborhood Family Practice’s (NFP) Ann B. Reichsman Community Health Center, 3545 Ridge Road: Cutting the ribbon for the new community health center are (L-R): John Wise, NFP Board Member; Alan Mancuso, NFP Board Member; Jean Solomon, Chair, NFP Board; Ann B. Reichsman, MD, Senior Medical Advisor; Jean Polster, NFP President and CEO; Dennis Duck, NFP Board Member; and Randy Runyon, President and CEO, Ohio Association of Community Health Centers.

PHOTO BY CHUCK HOVEN

Thursday, October 3, 2019, Grand Opening of Neighborhood Family Practice’s Ann B. Reichsman Community Health Center, 3545 Ridge Road: The fun, kid friendly grand opening celebration included raffles, giveaways, balloon creations, face painting and more. Cyrus Moreno, age 4, dons a Spiderman face.

 

Neighborhood Family Practice opens Ann B. Reichsman Community Health Center

by Chuck Hoven

(Plain Press, November 2019)        Neighborhood Family Practice (NFP) hosted a grand opening and ribbon cutting ceremony on October 3^rd for its newest clinic, The Ann B. Reichsman Community Health Center. Neighborhood Family Practice says the new clinic, located at 3545 Ridge Road, “will expand access and provide support to women with comprehensive care during pregnancy – and all stages of life – while also supporting the health care needs of their children and family.”

Ann B. Reichsman, the namesake of the clinic, serves as a NFP Senior Advisor, and was formerly a NFP Medical Director. Reichsman was one of the founding physicians of Neighborhood Family Practice.

At the ceremony, Neighborhood Family Practice President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Jean Polster said planning for the new clinic began a year ago when they noticed fewer cars in the parking lot by the converted bowling alley building (formerly Carousel Lanes) just north across the parking area from Neighborhood Family Practice’s Ridge Community Health Center. One of the tenants (Ocean Dental) had left and the landlord Chin Lee of Chin and Arnold Properties was looking for a new tenant. Polster said that Mr. Lee told her he was looking for a tenant “that would make a difference in the community.”

Polster said the 7,800 square foot space allowed Neighborhood Family Practice to create a space to offer comprehensive services to pregnant women and their families. Citing the need to help young families with affordable health care and connections and services they need in Cleveland, Polster noted that over 50% of families with children in Cleveland have family income below the federal poverty line.

Neighborhood Family Practice Board Chairperson Jean Solomon noted this is the seventh Neighborhood Family Practice clinic to open. She said the Ann B. Reichsman Community Health Center demonstrates Neighborhood Family Practice’s commitment to the expansion of women’s health services to women of all ages in addition to offering pre and post-natal services to young mothers, and care to new moms and infants.

Katy Maistros, Neighborhood Family Practice Associate Director of Midwifery Services, who will serve as medical director for the new clinic, has been with Neighborhood Family Practice for 15 years and involved with midwifery services for the past six years. In her remarks, Maistros stressed the importance offering mental health services to women.

A Neighborhood Family Practice patient that described herself as a first-time mom, spoke next. She called the doula that worked with her amazing saying “she walked me through step by step.” The young mother said she was happy to see the new center would be there to answer the questions of “people going through the same thing as me.”

Dr. Ann Reichsman, for whom the new center is named, spoke next. Reichsman talked about the opening of the first Neighborhood Family Practice Clinic thirty-eight years ago in a former biker bar on Storer Avenue. Reichsman talked about the early staff and volunteers involved with the clinic – the physicians, executive director, nurses, social workers and a few nuns. Reichsman said Neighborhood Family Practice’s first executive director Sally Tatnall wanted to build a clinic that would be a “model of how care should be.”