Hunter Health Clinic was twice denied the grant money. This was a third and final attempt to secure the funding, Schwartz said.
"It will about double everything we're doing," Schwartz said. The facility will grow from 22,000 square feet to 45,000 square feet and serve 60,000 patients by 2017, she said.
The new facility will provide greater access to preventative care for those who need it most. Currently, 70% of the patients served by the clinic are uninsured.
"I think they deserve a nice new building to come in and get the care, said longtime staffer Vonnie Long. "They (patients) should be treated like they all have a million dollars."
For the last ten years, Long and many other clinic employees have donated small portions of their paychecks to a secure fund on the hope it might one day be used to help build the facility and earn them naming rights to certain areas.
"We never gave up and I am just so happy to hear this," Long said with tears in her eyes.
Groundbreaking is expected to begin in about three months, with the new clinic scheduled to open in 2014. Officials expect to add 25 jobs in each of the first three years.
Health Clinic receives federal grant to build a new facility
