By Aria Brent
AFRO Staff Writer
abrent@afro.com
Park West Health Systems (Park West) has been providing comprehensive, primary care services to children, individuals and families, regardless of their ability to pay or their insurance status for more than 50 years. Although the organization is rooted in the Park Heights neighborhood, they offer services to the Greater Baltimore area at large.
From the very beginning Park West has operated with a mission of never turning anyone away. However after years of service in the same location, the need for an in-depth update became apparent in 2018.
“This project started as a brainchild between Dr. Bennett and I in 2018. Bishop Donte Hickman had a meeting with us in 2018 and he collectively brought in a bunch of faith based institutions,” said Patrice Wallace, project manager for fundraising and development for Park West Health Systems capital expansion project. “Park West is considered a ministry and it was the only corporation that provided services to the public that was part of this gathering. We knew that we needed to expand in behavioral and mental health services to meet the needs of our community.”
For years, Park West has been a pioneer in the healthcare industry and throughout Baltimore. During the HIV/AIDS epidemic they were one of the first to address the health crisis, provide education and discuss prevention. Additionally, Park West was also an original federally qualified health system that was established as a model for what has now become over 1,400 health systems.
The company’s long-standing history has allowed them to tailor their services to what the community is in need of. Dr. Allen Bennett, president and CEO of Park West recalled what things were like when he first joined the company during the early 1980’s. Noting that they were one of two operations that offered dental services to the uninsured in addition to focusing on prenatal and maternal care.
“We were a very small facility at that particular time, located in the basement of our current location. But we provided an entire range of primary care services.We were only one of two operations that had dental services for the uninsured,” said Bennett. “Back at that time the only place you could go if you needed dental work was the University of Maryland Dental School. We provide an outlet here in Northwest Baltimore and we strive to make sure that people of color have an opportunity to receive quality health care, regardless of their ability to pay.”
Throughout the years the small but mighty healthcare company has added onto and expanded their facility to help accommodate their every-growing array of services. However this most-recent set of renovations that are scheduled to happen are centered around expanding their behavioral health services to also include youth behavioral health and making the building more ADA compliant. What was initially set to be just an addition onto the right side of the building has since become a plan to add on 15,245 square feet that will total in three levels worth of new construction.
“We are going to add new additions to the right side of the building to expand behavioral health services and to incorporate youth specific behavioral health services, which includes youth advocacy, school based prevention and group therapy,” Wallace explained. “We’ll also offer psychotherapy, creative expression therapies and violence prevention–all of which will be geared to children because what people fail to realize is that adults with behavioral health problems used to be children with behavioral health problems.We’re trying to get ahead of that curve and make sure they get the services they need.”
In the last six years, several aspects of this project have changed. From the literal dimensions of the renovations to the price and timeline for the projects completion, but through it all Park West has kept their mission of serving those in need paramount. The project was originally set to cost about 8.4 million dollars but following the Covid-19 pandemic it’s now going to cost 14 million dollars.
The 2.5 million dollars received came from a series of government funding including congressional direct spending dollars that were supported by Congressman Kweisi Mfume, Sen. Chris Van Hollen and Sen. Ben Cardin.
The organization is due to break ground this fall and renovations are anticipated to be done by the spring of 2026.
The post Park West Health Systems receives 2.5 million for expansions and renovations appeared first on AFRO American Newspapers.
