Neighborhood Health Center celebrated the grand opening of its newest Buffalo location at 1569 Niagara Street, near Forest Avenue. The new site, known as Neighborhood Health Center Riverway, is in a renovated brick warehouse which Neighborhood purchased in late 2020. Neighborhood and the Kirst Construction team spent 2021 and the first part of 2022 gutting and redesigning the interior, restoring the exterior brick for historical integrity and in keeping with the look of the surrounding neighborhood, and building and integrating an addition.

The 26,000 square foot Neighborhood Health Center Riverway is serving as the primary care home to more than 4,000 patients in need of quality, affordable healthcare. It offers a full complement of Neighborhood services, including internal/family medicine, obstetrics & gynecology, pediatrics, dentistry, behavioral health, nutritional counseling, podiatry, and a pharmacy.

“We know that there is a need for quality primary care on Buffalo’s west side. Twenty percent of west side residents don’t currently have a primary care provider,” says Joanne Haefner, Neighborhood Health Center President and CEO. “We know the importance of preventative services. Riverway provides access to help meet that need and address the social determinants of health that many of our patients and beloved community members experience.”

Neighborhood began seeing patients at Riverway with a soft opening in June. The grand opening celebration event, held on August 11 in conjunction with National Health Center Week celebrations, featured remarks from Neighborhood’s CEO and prominent elected leaders, a ribbon cutting, and tours of the building.

“As a federally qualified health center, Neighborhood Health Center has been a trusted provider of high-quality healthcare, wellness, and prevention services for the people of Buffalo and Western New York,” said Congressman Brian Higgins who took part in the ribbon cutting event. “This new Riverway location will make the wide array of services provided there available to more of our neighbors and continue the work of building stronger and healthier communities.”

Riverway is Neighborhood’s sixth brick-and-mortar location, joining three other city sites, one site each in Blasdell and Hamburg, plus a mobile unit. Neighborhood has served as the region’s leading primary care safety-net provider for 35 years and provides access to high-quality comprehensive healthcare services to Western New Yorkers, regardless of ability to pay. Neighborhood is the oldest and largest Federally Qualified Health Center in the region and currently the primary care home to more than 28,000 Western New Yorkers.