Now that the City Council has approved the contract for the Centre Square development, Wheeler Health has made the following announcement:

Helping to anchor the downtown Bristol Centre Square development with professional jobs and accessible health care for the entire community, Wheeler Health is moving forward with a plan to purchase an approximately 1.3-acre lot between North Main and Hope Streets, with the intent to build an approximately 35,000-square foot community health center and administrative headquarters, opening in 2023. More than 200 full- and part-time employees will work at the new building, which will become Wheeler’s flagship location.

Services currently provided at Wheeler’s two existing health centers in Bristol will move to this new building and include adult primary care, pediatrics, behavioral health and psychiatry, addiction treatment,nutrition, LGBTQIA-responsive services, and more, for all ages. Wheeler will continue to make ongoing referrals for specialty services like oncology and dental care to Bristol Health and other local providers.

INVESTING IN IMPACT, INVESTING IN BRISTOL
Wheeler will fund the entire project through a combination of loans, allocations from Wheeler’s endowment, private giving, and public grants. To help support the construction of the center, Wheeler has also announced a four-year, $500,000 fundraising campaign. Led by a
committee of Wheeler Trustees with ties to the Bristol community, including Chairman Jim Moylan, the organization has raised nearly $280,000 in gifts and pledges toward the goal now at the public launch of the campaign, and expects to exceed its goals within four years.

A groundbreaking ceremony is expected in the spring, with an opening planned for spring 2023.