Center for Better Health and Wellness receives $505,000 federal grant
Aug 9, 2022
(BENTON HARBOR) – Team members of Spectrum Health Lakeland welcomed Congressman Fred Upton to the site of the future Center for Better Health and Wellness in Benton Harbor on August 8, 2022. U.S. Rep. Upton was key in securing funds from the Health Resources and Services Administration of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Upton is visiting several communities in the 6th Congressional District to celebrate and acknowledge the recipients of federal appropriations he helped support in Congress.
“I was pleased to support the efforts of Spectrum’s Center for Better Health and Wellness to expand services, including primary and cardiac care,” said U.S. Rep. Fred Upton, R-St. Joe. “This project will help address health needs for the community with new space, equipment, and technology. I appreciate Spectrum Health for providing an update on the expansion and how they will use this grant.”
The center’s services will be moving from its current 1,200 square foot facility to a 26,000 square foot building, which is expected to be completed in 2023. The new larger location will help provide access to health care and social needs for the residents of Benton Harbor, including primary care, cardiovascular care, mental health care, other specialty care and integrative non-medical services. The center will continue to provide social navigation support which will facilitate residents’ access to housing, food and other services and resources required for good health.
“This expansion will allow Lakeland to better serve a community that has long been underserved and that has as result deep health inequities,” said Lynn Todman, PhD, vice president, Health Equity, BHSH System. “This project will help address the needs identified in the Spectrum Health Lakeland’s 2022-2024 Community Health Needs Assessment, specifically access to health care services, mental health care, food and nutrition services, and social cohesion. Our community members have shared the need is great, so we are listening and doing our part by acting.”
In November 2020, Spectrum Health Lakeland created the current Center for Better Health as a two-month rapid response to COVID-19-related health inequities. Eighty-five percent of Benton Harbor residents are African American, nearly half live in poverty, and many experience conditions such as hypertension, heart disease, diabetes, and pre-term and low birth-weight babies.
For more information about programs and services at Center for Better Health and Wellness, visit centersforbetterhealth.org or call 269.408.2558