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Description

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Mission Statement
The Corporation is dedicated to providing high quality accessible medical dental and behavioral health services to individuals and families in the Greater Bridgeport area especially the uninsured who reside in the medically underserved Southwest Bridgeport community

Vision Statement
Southwest Community Health Center is the provider of choice for all residents of the Southwest Bridgeport community and is recognized as a leader in the community health field that engages in cooperative alliances with other agencies dedicated to the total wellbeing of the people in the community

Value Statement
The Staff and Board of Directors of the Southwest Community Health Center value and are committed to

The dignity and inherent worth of every human being

Recognition of health as a complex phenomenon with many contributing
factors

The right to basic health care regardless of ability to pay

Friendly professional and efficient health care delivery

Excellence and quality

Creativity and innovation

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History

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History
In 1976 a group of concerned citizens representing the City of Bridgeport Bridgeport Housing Authority and other neighborhood agencies formed the West End Neighborhood Advisory Council They saw that there was a desperate need for medical and dental services in southwest Bridgeport and submitted a request for Public Health Services Section 330 funding to the Department of Health Education and Welfare to provide health care to their impoverished neighborhoods The Health Center became a reality when the Advisory Council received the Notice of Grant Award in August 1977 This funding was given to the City of Bridgeport to support the Health Center for three years At the end of this three year funding cycle the Council emerged as the Board of Directors with the full fiduciary responsibilities of the newly incorporated Health Center The services were relocated from Building 14 of the PT Barnum complex to the refurbished St Stephens School on Bird Street in 1978 On August 1 1980 Southwest Community Health Center was incorporated as a notforprofitentity

Since that time SWCHC has expanded into the Marina Village Housing Complex at 743 South Avenue Our 510 Clinton Avenue site offers a full range of womans health services The 1046 Fairfield Avenue site houses Behavioral Health services including the Intensive Outpatient Substance Abuse Treatment Program In July 2007 SWCHC opened the 968 Fairfield Avenue building which became the new main facility of the Health Center and offers medical dental and behavioral health services In 2009 SWCHC was awarded a subcontract to offer medical dental and mental health services in five School Based Health Centers through the Connecticut Department of Public Health DPH In January 2011 SWCHC was awarded a second subcontract to provide the Women Infants and Children WIC Food and Nutrition Services through DPH

The staff of SWCHC looks forward to the continued expansion of health care services to benefit the Bridgeport community