Hamilton Health Center, in Harrisburg, is a one-stop “Medical Mall” for community health. They provide a range of services including adult and child primary care, OB/GYN, dental, eyecare, mental health, and social services. Hamilton Health Center’s mission is to improve families’ health through the delivery of high-quality, patient-centered services regardless of families’ health, economic, ethnicity, language, place of origin or insurance status. From humble beginnings in 1969, Hamilton Health Center began as a social justice response to the lack of healthcare access in the community. Since then, Hamilton Health has experienced exponential growth, expanding from a small trailer in front of the St. Augsburg Lutheran church to having its own building with satellite locations in additional counties! Brad Gebhart, Development Director at Hamilton Health Center for six years, attributes a great portion of this growth to the leadership team and staff, especially their CEO Jeannine Peterson, who have used their vision to launch Hamilton to great achievements. Hamilton serves over 30,000 patients annually with over 110,000 visits in 2019. Dedicated staff continue to receive numerous Innovation and Health Care Hero awards showcasing their outstanding commitment to health and community. Additionally, Hamilton continues to establish multiple collaborations to support the community. Hamilton has been a collaborating member of PACT, serving the well-being of children and families, since 2007 and they recently collaborated with Penn State Health and Dr. McGarrity to provide free colonoscopies to the community.
On March 5, 2020, Hamilton celebrated its 50th anniversary with a gala attended by fellow community members and friends where exciting plans were unveiled for a future expansion of services. “We’re a community health center. We want to be responsive to the community and always try to help,” said Mr. Gebhart. In the works, Hamilton will be raising money for a new Women and Children’s center. Additionally, Hamilton will be collaborating with the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank to identify solutions for food insecurity in the community. Together they hope to identify a location to provide free food for families in need, with additional space for a teaching kitchen so the community may learn more about preparing nutritious foods in different settings. Hamilton is also identifying new resources for workforce development, including training opportunities within the Center for new healthcare providers and auxiliary professionals.
We look forward to Hamilton Health Center’s new initiatives and truly thank them for their continuous efforts to support our community’s health and well-being! In turn, the community can support Hamilton and their services by promoting and donating during their fundraising events and by helping to identify additional grant and collaboration opportunities. Find out more about Hamilton Health Center at its website: https://www.hamiltonhealthcenter.com/ .
