$9 Million in New Markets Tax Credits for Caring Health Center in Springfield, Massachusetts
$21.6 Million Expansion Will Significantly Increase Center’s Capacity to Serve Low-Income Residents

February 6, 2013

Building America CDE, Inc. has allocated $9 million in New Markets Tax Credits for the expansion of Caring Health Center, a community-based outpatient healthcare provider in a medically underserved area of Springfield, Massachusetts.

Serving exclusively low-income families, Caring Health Center is the only community health facility in the region. It annually serves nearly 14,000 medical and dental patients and also offers outreach, counseling, and education programs. Currently, the Center is able to meet the healthcare needs of only about 25% of eligible residents due to the limited capacity of its existing facilities. Through the $21.6 million rehabilitation of three historic buildings in downtown Springfield, the project will create 45,000 square feet of new space that will allow for a dramatic expansion of services, doubling the number of people served each year. The space will include 30 new exam rooms, 12 new dental operatories, a Wellness Center, pharmacy, and administrative space. The Center’s existing Main Street clinic will be repurposed into a Maternal and Child Health Center. 

“This project is going to have a tremendous impact on the Center’s ability to provide integrated health care to the city’s poorest residents, all of whom are struggling with socio-economic challenges,” said Eric W. Price, CEO of Building America. “We are pleased that this and other nearby revitalization projects are helping stabilize the neighborhood while attracting additional investment to Springfield’s deteriorating downtown – just the sort of investment activity the New Markets Tax Credits program was designed to stimulate.” 

In an area suffering from a high unemployment rate, the Caring Health Center project will create an estimated 130 union construction jobs for members of Springfield’s building and construction trades unions, 85 jobs indirectly related to the project’s construction, and 125 new permanent healthcare positions.