Charles B. Wang Community Health Center opens 6th NY facility

The Charles B. Wang Community Health Center, a federally qualified health center that caters to underserved Asian American communities, has opened a new site in Flushing to the tune of $75 million, it announced Wednesday.

The new center, called Healthview, is the Charles B. Wang Community Health Center’s third location in Flushing. The 80,000-square-foot facility will have 54 exam rooms and 17 dental treatment rooms. It is expected to serve more than 25,000 patients a year, increasing the nonprofit’s total yearly number of patients by about 40%.

Lynn D. Sherman, executive vice president of finance, IT, capital projects and HR for the Charles B. Wang Community Health Center, said the facility will address an overwhelming need for dental services, which the nonprofit previously only offered at one location in Manhattan’s Chinatown. Healthview is opening with six dentists on staff.

“It can take months to get an appointment,” she said. “Our waiting list is extraordinary.”

Healthview will also expand capacity for mental health services, which Sherman said are in high demand. Other available services include primary care, health education and social work. Available languages will include Mandarin and Cantonese.

The project was financed with a $30 million Build NYC tax-exempt bond purchased by Flushing Bank, a $10 million donation from the Chinatown Health Clinic Foundation, $7 million from the federal New Markets Tax Credit Program and support from the Queens Borough President’s Office and City Council, among other funding vehicles.

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“The players were all really committed to Queens,” Sherman said.

The organization also received a grant from the city Office of Environmental Remediation to clean up the site at College Point Boulevard and 40th Road, which it purchased for $15 million.

The Charles B. Wang Community Health Center was founded in 1971 and serves about 62,000 patients annually. It has five other locations.

This story first appeared in our sister publication, Crain's New York Business.