Westside Family Healthcare is a non-profit Federally Qualified Health Center with four locations serving Wilmington, Newark, and Bear/New Castle, Delaware. Westside provides primary and family care, pediatric care, OB/GYN care, mental health care, dental care, podiatry, financial aid assistance, and social support services to primarily low-income, underinsured or uninsured residents of Northern Delaware. Westside celebrates 30 years of providing quality healthcare regardless of one’s ability to pay.
The idea for Westside Health came about through a series of serendipitous events in the early 1980’s. Westside’s founder, Salle McDaniel, convened a group of volunteers, mostly fellow nurses, who trekked a long, rocky, politically-charged road to establish the role of nurse practitioners in the community healthcare system. They fought to get the West Side of Wilmington designated as a medically underserved area, paving the way to open the first “nurse managed” community health center in Delaware.
Westside won its first major funding award in 1986 in the form of a six-year challenge grant under the community partners funding program from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. This meant that the true fund-raising had to begin in order to get the center operational. Salle McDaniel and a group of volunteers garnered a broad range of support from almost all of the area’s local foundations, corporations, small businesses, religious and community-based organizations, state and local government, and many individuals who believed in the cause. In 1988, Westside opened its doors at the Adams Four Shopping Center to residents of Wilmington, DE.
One of the most significant events in the early years of Westside’s history occurred in 1990, when Lolita Lopez was hired as Executive Director. They fought to get the West Side of Wilmington designated as a medically underserved area, paving the way to open the first “nurse managed” community health center in Delaware.
Under her leadership, Westside has become a shining example of how a successful health center should operate. Lolita’s vision quickly focused on access and quality, with a plan to gain the necessary accreditations and designations to create a new facility and expand services to meet the needs of the mostly Hispanic population of Wilmington’s West Side. Over the years, Lolita developed solid funding partnerships and fostered valued community relationships. She developed a caring and dedicated cast of Board volunteers who actively participated in the center’s development.
In 1992, Westside achieved its first benchmark when it obtained the Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) “lookalike” designation. Westside was the seventeenth such center in the country, positioning it to receive federal funding to subsidize care for under- and uninsured patients. By 1994, Westside had become a fully funded federally qualified health center receiving federal funds to support care to the uninsured. Over the next many years, this funding leveraged over $4 million in capital and program support from many of the original as well as new community funding partners.
Westside became severely overcrowded at its original location at the Adams Four Shopping Center. In 1996, Beneficial National Bank donated its building at 1802 W. Fourth Street to Westside with a challenge to raise $2.2 million for facility expansion construction. Under the leadership of Beneficial Bank volunteers, Board volunteers and again, engaging the community funding partners, Westside met the challenge. In August 1998, exactly ten years after its inception, Westside opened the doors to a state-of-the-art, 23,000-square-foot facility that included new headquarters and a very busy primary care practice.
The next challenge was the voluntary pursuit of accreditation by the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Health Care Organizations (JCAHO). Westside embarked on a performance improvement journey that led to JCAHO accreditation in 2000. JCAHO accreditation is the “Good Housekeeping” seal of approval for health care facilities. Westside is committed to maintaining continuous survey readiness and is subject to unannounced JCAHO surveys every three years.
One JCAHO quality benchmark is emergency preparedness. Westside’s emergency planning was put to the test on July 3, 2003, the day of the 3rd Street explosion. Everyone was startled by the sound of a nearby explosion from a ruptured gas line. Christine Donohue-Henry, MD, Westside’s Chief Medical Officer, directed the response as her entire clinical staff grabbed crash carts and rushed toward the fire in search of victims. They had triage set up before the dust had settled or the ambulances arrived. Their speedy response was credited with saving lives and reducing injuries. Their heroic role in the disaster generated a lot of positive publicity not only for Westside, but for community health centers in general. Dr. Donohue-Henry, a former National Health Service Corps scholar, demonstrated her deep commitment to the community health model of care by serving 10 years as our CMO. She is followed by Dr. Tom Stephens, who began his tenure as Chief Medical Officer here in 2009 and has already done commendable work improving the quality of our health centers.
Providing equal access to quality community based health care has been the foundation of Westside’s mission since the beginning.They had triage set up before the dust had settled or the ambulances arrived. Their speedy response was credited with saving lives and reducing injuries.
Westside soon realized that vision by expanding services into new communities with the opening of centers in the Wilmington Hospital Annex (2003), Brookside Plaza in Newark (2004) and East 16th Street in Northeast Wilmington (2006). Westside’s neighborhood has expanded and changed over the 20 years, but the focus has been and always will be on addressing the unique health care needs of the multi-cultural communities we serve. Westside also opened a new center to serve the Bear and New Castle area in Delaware on August 5th 2009 and, for the first time since Westside began, has added a pediatrics service with three new providers at three separate sites.
Fiscal accountability and responsible stewardship of public funds has always been a core value of Westside Family Healthcare. Since the first business plan was developed in 1991 that convinced community partners to reinvest in operations, Leslie Sullivan, Westside’s first Finance Director, set the course for a solid financial future. Today, after nine years of continuous service, Vice President and Chief Finance & Operating Officer, Donna M. Goodman continues the legacy.
Known today as Westside Family Healthcare, the organization that began as an idea at a kitchen table over 30 years ago is now a major player in the health care community, serving nearly 18,000 patients annually. As Westside’s story continues to unfold, its commitment to the community and its mission to provide equal access to quality healthcare regardless of ability to pay remains as strong and passionate as ever. Its visionary leadership under the direction of current Board Chair Teresa Cheek, along with a host of dedicated staff, will undoubtedly continue “The Westside Story” for many, many years to come.
