CVIM Opens New Clinic

Centre Volunteers in Medicine has opened its new headquarters, expanding the free clinic’s opportunities for providing high-quality health care to low-income, uninsured individuals in Centre County.

CVIM began moving into the new, 11,000-square-foot space at 2026 Sandy Drive in Ferguson Township earlier in May, according to a news release on Tuesday. The new clinic includes eight medical exam rooms, six dental operatories, four counseling offices and expanded administrative areas.

Now in its 20th year, CVIM had long outgrown its home for the past 15 on Green Tech Drive in Patton Township. Clinic officials said the former 6,700-square-foot facility had become cramped and offered no space to reconfigure or expand.

The nonprofit organization purchased the Sandy Drive building for $2.35 million and in 2022 launched the $10 million — later $11 million — “Building for a Healthier Future” campaign to support the extensive renovations needed to outfit the building and permanent endowments that will ensure it can continue to meet the growing demand for services.

“Our new facility wouldn’t exist without our passionate donors who have given generously to the Building for a Healthier Future campaign,” Cheryl White, CVIM executive director, said in a statement. “We have raised $10.2 million of our $11 million goal to date. Nearly $7 million of funding will allow us to move into our new space debt free, with the remaining funds being used to establish endowments to allow us to operate the building and enhance our services to the community.”

Support came from state and federal funding and private donors, and the new facility will be named the Palmer Family Clinic in honor of a $2 million gift from the Palmer Foundation, which was created by the late philanthropists Barbara and Jim Palmer.

An estimated 12,000 people in Centre County are without health care and CVIM is the county’s only permanent free clinic offering medical, dental, behavioral health and prescription assistance. In its old facility, space limitations hindered CVIM’s ability to grow education and wellness programs, start new programs, add more volunteers and, perhaps most importantly, increase its volume of patient care.

“The mission of any ideal society is for its residents to have access to quality care,” Heddy Kervandjian, chair of the CVIM Board of Directors, said earlier this year. “Here, women can get yearly exams; patients can get assistance with hearing aids and glasses; children can have their teeth cleaned; people can see a therapist; citizens can get their smiles back when they wear their new more affordable dentures. Patients will meet their primary care provider, receive medication and work with case workers to plan their treatment and recovery plans for more complicated issues.

“Hundreds of volunteer citizens, doctors, nurses and health care providers come together to care for our patients and work alongside the small CVIM staff to make it all happen.”