Callen-Lorde Community Health Center has transformed its Bronx clinic from a cramped outpost into a 17,000-square-foot hub, five times larger than before, with 16 behavioral health rooms, 10 medical exam rooms, a pharmacy, and an on-site lab offering rapid-access testing. The renovated and expanded space at 555 Bergen Ave. in Mott Haven, on the fourth floor near the Third Avenue-149th Street 2/5 subway station, replaces a facility that had just one behavioral health room, four exam rooms, and one injection room when it first opened in 2016.
The scale of the change is striking given where the clinic started. According to Gay City News, the old Bronx location previously served just 270 behavioral health patients with a smaller pharmacy, limited lab space, and cramped offices, per Callen-Lorde. The organization now plans to serve more than 1,500 behavioral health patients over the next three years, and the expanded medical side will have capacity for 14,000 patients annually.
A Response to a Documented Care Gap
Health Center Director Yadiro Solano said the new location will help address healthcare disparities in the Bronx, where providers are available at less than one-quarter the rate found in Manhattan per resident, according to New York State health data cited in the same report. That shortage highlights the need for accessible healthcare in the area.
Callen-Lorde CEO Patrick McGovern said the renovated clinic can now reach more people who deserve accessible, culturally informed healthcare, adding that research shows culturally competent care improves health outcomes and quality of life. The Bronx team includes staff with roots in the borough and English-Spanish bilingual skills, the health center says, a detail meant to reflect the community it serves.
Building Out HIV Prevention and Treatment
The expanded Bronx facility will serve as a sexual health, HIV treatment, and prevention hub, according to Chief Medical Officer Demetre Daskalakis. It will offer long-acting injectable medications and multiple HIV prevention options so patients can choose based on individual needs, with the new rapid-access lab designed to speed up results compared with typical HIV screening. Callen-Lorde offers HIV prevention care to everyone, including people who are not primary care patients there, and patients across its network can schedule same-day or next-day appointments when available, along with first-come, first-served quick-care walk-in visits…