Affordable health center to open in Corona

Wednesday, September 3, 2008 7:30 PM EDT

YALDAZ SADAKOVA

The Corona, Elmhurst and Jackson Heights communities will soon have a new, local facility for affordable health care services.

Plaza Del Sol, the first family health center providing affordable care in the medically underserved neighborhood Corona, is set to open sometime in October. Located at 37-12 108th Street, the facility is going to provide primary care and a variety of specialty services including internal medicine, eye care and gynecology to people of all ages, said Paloma Hernandez, CEO of the center.

Patients will pay for these services only as much as their income allows them to because Plaza Del Sol is charging so-called “sliding fees,” which are determined by income size, explained Hernandez. “Nobody will be turned away.”

Besides Corona, the center will also serve East Elmhurst and Jackson Heights, according to Hernandez. All of these communities, along with others in western Queens, have the highest percentage of uninsured adults in the city, according to data from the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH).

In addition, one third of adults in western Queens do not have a primary health care provider, DOHMH figures revealed.

Open seven days-a-week, the 12,500-square-foot facility equipped with 16 examination rooms will be able to handle about 30,000 patient visits annually, said Hernandez.

“In three to six months, I want Paloma [Hernandez] to call me and say, ‘We need more space,’” said Assemblymember Jose Peralta, who represents the area, expressing hope that the community will take full advantage of the facility.

Peralta said his office provided $500,000 for the opening of Plaza Del Sol and Councilmember Hiram Monserrate, who also represents western Queens neighborhoods, provided additional funding.

Urban Health Plan, Inc., the company running Plaza Del Sol, has been providing health services in the Bronx for over 30 years at 11 locations, and this is its first Queens branch.

THE COURIER/PHOTO BY YALDAZ SADAKOVA
Assemblymember Jose Peralta (left) and Paloma Hernandez, CEO of Plaza Del Sol Family Health Center (right), talk about the upcoming opening of the new facility.