The Board of Directors of the new HealthFirst Family Care Center invited the public and special guests to an official open house on August 8, 2012 to celebrate the completion of their new $11.5 million facility on Quarry Street. The building replaces a facility that had been in use since 1971 and had become inadequate for the delivery of high quality medical and dental services to the Fall River community. The event marked the culmination of nearly two years of planning and construction to renovate a former Quaker Fabric facility into a state-of-the-art medical clinic complete with dental and nutrition programs. "We're proud to have remained in the same neighborhood and we're proud of the revitalization that's going on in this area of Fall River," noted CEO Julie Almond. The new facility and will also accommodate specialty services by Southcoast Hospitals Group, National Physical Therapy, and Standard Pharmacy.  Click here for a 50-minute video of the event. Click here for the Herald News article. Click here for photos of the opening day, here for photos of the beam signing and here for photos of the groundbreaking. For more information, call HealthFirst Director of Community Relations and Development Paula Harrison at 774-627-1204

(Top row) Manual Goncalez, Janet Lebel of Senator John Kerry's Office, HealthFirst Board President Gene Alves,  Cheryl Bartlett of the Mass. Department of Public Health, HealthFirst CEO Julie Almond and Mass. Senator Michael Rodrigues chat before the speaking begins. (Row two, left) Fall River Director of Health and Human Services Dr. Henry Vaillancourt chats with Terry Hallowell. (Row two, center) Ms. Almond greets Fall River Mayor William Flanagan. (Row two, right) Mohan Rao is introduced to Dr. Wajd Baig by HealthFirst Medical Director Uma Kolli. (Row three) Gene Alves introduces Ms. Bartlett, who is representing Public Health Commissioner Auerbach, and James Hunt, President and CEO of the Mass. League of Community Health Centers. (Row, four) Ms. Almond introduces HealthFirst Facilities Manager Barry Pelland who then introduces Steve VanNess, Principal for Steffian Bradley Architects who designed the facility. (Row five) Colmbia Construction Senior Vice-president and COO James Marsh and Skanska USA Building Project Executive Mary Ann Williams praise the HealthFirst staff with whom they worked to realize the project before Jeff Hopkins of the Fall River Elks presents Gene with an American and POW flag to fly at the facility. (Bottom row) Rev. Dr. Robert Lawrence chats with School Committee member Joseph Martins after delivering the benediction and before the ribbon-cutting ceremony and tours conducted throughout the building.