In total, Capital Projects is a $21 million grant program that leverages dollars from the DC government to assist individual community-based health centers.  Since 2005, the District committed a total of $21 million in capital funds to DCPCA to distribute to community health centers for their projects.  To date, approximately $2 million has been allocated to 13 health centers in almost every ward in the District.  Of these projects, six are clinic replacements, five are expansions of current sites, and two are second sites for existing clinics.  The committed $21 million will be dedicated to the existing 13 capital projects.  NOTE:  DCPCA is not planning any additional grant rounds at this time.

Two rounds of grants were awarded to upgrade space and equipment at the 13 facilities – allowing for an increased capacity for visits, a higher quality of care, improved administrative efficiency, and increased patient satisfaction.  The grant award process was highly structured in order to prepare the health centers for development and to support them through the difficult process of managing a capital project.  The program provides intensive technical assistance to guide the centers through the three stages of the capital development process:  planning, design, and construction.

The grant process worked as follows:

• Health centers applied for funding to expand, renovate, or build a new facility.

• An independent selection committee used criteria developed by a local Priorities Setting Panel to evaluate projects for readiness and adherence to District-wide priorities based on data collected in 2004 and updated regularly.

• Health centers received awards for planning, design, and construction, based on continuing evaluation and on the availability of funding.

Re-building the primary care safety net system in the District is quite an ambitious undertaking.  Therefore, DCPCA continues to invite the DC government, community banks, private foundations, and individual donors to round out the $53 million difference in our Capital Projects.  In our data report, ”WHERE WE ARE, WHERE WE NEED TO GO: The Primary Care Safety Net in the District of Columbia, January, 2005 Update,”  DCPCA set the bar high by studying where the needs for primary care are the greatest.  If we achieve our goal of building these 13 projects, we will expand capacity by approximately 200,000 additional visits – enough to meet the primary care needs of DC’s low-income residents for the foreseeable future.  Capital Projects is – quite literally – a ground-breaking program.  With business, community, foundation, and government support, DCPCA can truly make a difference in meeting the needs of the under- and uninsured residents of the District of Columbia.

For more information please click here to view the Capital Projects One-Pager.

View photos of the former building at 1500 Galen Street SE. 

View photos of the demolition of the former building at 1500 Galen Street SE.

View photos of the demolition of the building at 3910 Georgia Avenue NW.