Greater Lawrence Family Health Center made a promise to the City of Haverhill more than 10 years ago to help provide better health care access for
residents.

Last fall, GLFHC made good on that promise when Haverhill Family Health Center opened its doors at 755 Main Street.

Services include primary care for all ages, OB/GYN and prenatal care, behavioral health, and substance abuse treatment. The clinic has an on-site laboratory to process bloodwork, as well as a full-service pharmacy to fill prescriptions. The pharmacy is open to non-patients also offers free delivery to Haverhill residents.

John Silva, CEO of GLFHC, said opening another location during a pandemic was a gamble, but the right thing to do. In just six months, the site has taken on new patients and seen the need for its services grow.

“We can already see the support and we can see the growth of patients and we are over the moon about it,” Silva said. “I’m really proud.”

Haverhill Family Health Center is the sixth clinical location and pharmacy for GLFHC. The nonprofit community health center also operates four clinics and pharmacies in Lawrence and one in Methuen. In addition, GLFHC has two school-based sites at Lawrence High and Greater Lawrence Technical School in Andover to serve the students and their families.

Greater Lawrence Family Health Center has provided comprehensive primary care services to residents of the Merrimack Valley since 1980. They serve more than 64,000 patients a year.

GLFHC uses a comprehensive care service delivery model tailored to meet the needs of the target population – economically disadvantaged, minorities, and working poor.

Specific services provided include: primary healthcare, disease prevention and education, case management, outreach, nutrition education, HIV/AIDS outreach, education and services, and substance abuse counseling, treatment, and referral.

All perinatal, pediatric, and adult primary care services are linguistically and culturally sensitive to patients’ needs. GLFHC has secured formal agreements for the provision of dental, specialty, behavioral health, substance abuse, lab and radiology, rehabilitation, and other services to ensure that GLFHC patients’ needs are met within the service delivery area.

To respond to the growing homeless population in the Merrimack Valley, GLFHC has steadily grown its Health Care for the Homeless Program since 2000, and now provides care at 14 community–based sites where the homeless congregate: shelters, drop-in centers, food pantries, etc. GLFHC has added sites when necessary to accommodate the needs of this special population, and now serves over 1,000 homeless patients.