Harvard Street Health Center to break ground on new Dorchester facility

Harvard Street Neighborhood Health Center will break ground Oct. 29 on a new three-story building in Dorchester that will more than double its space and expand care for a historically underserved community. The project adds new services, new financing partners and capacity to serve about 14,000 patients a year once open.

Why it matters: - The new Harvard Street Neighborhood Health Center building is designed to expand access to primary and specialty care in Dorchester, where the organization serves a largely low-income, multicultural and multilingual patient base. - The project will more than double the health center’s square footage and is expected to raise annual patient volume from about 10,600 to about 14,000. - The facility also turns a brownfields site on Blue Hill Avenue into a health care and community asset.

What happened: - Harvard Street Neighborhood Health Center will hold a groundbreaking Thursday, Oct. 29 at 11 a.m. for a new state-of-the-art facility at 8 Old Road in Dorchester. - The new three-story building will stand next to the center’s current facility. - The project continues the organization’s expansion along the Blue Hill Avenue corridor.

The details: - The new building will house family medicine, behavioral health, women’s health and OB/GYN, dental and eye care, nutritional health, podiatry, laboratory and pharmacy services, adolescent health and cancer screening. - Harvard Street will add two new service lines: portable radiology and substance use disorder treatment. - The project is backed by a $20 million tax-exempt bond issued by MassDevelopment and purchased by South Shore Bank. - The financing also includes nearly $53 million in combined New Market Tax Credit allocation from The Community Builders, Massachusetts Housing Investment Corporation, BlueHub Capital, Broadstreet Impact Services/LISC, CHC Capital Fund and JPMorganChase. - Commodore Builders is the general contractor. - The project also uses $8 million from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts through the American Rescue Plan Act, a $5 million state earmark and brownfields redevelopment funds from MassDevelopment. - Bancel Philanthropies contributed $1.5 million to the fundraising campaign. - Boston Medical Center contributed $500,000.

Between the lines: - The financing package blends public funds, tax credits, philanthropy and bank backing, which signals a complex capital stack typical of community health projects with major construction costs. - The emphasis on union labor and site cleanup suggests the project is meant to deliver both health care capacity and neighborhood reinvestment. - Murphy said the effort reflects years of work and collaboration from multiple partners. - Murphy also singled out Loryn Sheffner of Avenue Development, along with Katharine Kettner and David Valecillos of The Community Builders, for helping assemble the financing plan.

What's next: - Harvard Street Neighborhood Health Center expects the new facility to open and begin serving more patients once construction is complete. - The organization plans to channel the expanded capacity back into the neighborhood that has been served by the center since 1969.

The bottom line: - The Dorchester project is a major expansion for one of Boston’s longstanding community health centers, with the goal of widening access to care and strengthening neighborhood services at the same time.