News & Updates
Henry J. Austin Health Center Honored with Health and Human Services
“Expanded Medical Capacity” Grant

(Trenton, New Jersey) Henry J. Austin Health Center, Inc., was one of two organizations in New Jersey selected recently to receive a competitive Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Grant aimed at expanding the ability of community health care centers to treat uninsured and underinsured patients. The new funding will allow the Henry J. Austin Health Center to provide additional services to more patients at all three of its locations: the Austin Center at 321 N Warren Street, the Ewing Center at 72 Ewing Street, and Chambers Manor Family Practice at 317 Chambers Street, across from Trenton Central High School.

“We are pleased that we will be able to offer more services to more members of our community with this grant,” said Austin’s Chief Executive Officer. Added Chief Medical Officer Eric Schwartz, MD: “I am excited that, with this additional support, we can reach more patients and more aggressively tackle medical problems like diabetes and high blood pressure that are so common in our community.”

Henry J. Austin Health Center already sees over 13,000 patients a year. This new funding, totaling $418,667, will support the Center in hiring additional physicians and nurses, providing transportation and outreach to communities in the area, and offering expanded hours. Staff predict that this will increase the number of patients that Austin Center services by twenty-five percent.

Federally Qualified Health Centers such as Henry J. Austin, commonly referred to as FQHCs, are increasingly relied upon to fill in the gap left by shrinking Medicaid budgets and increasing numbers of uninsured and underinsured residents. FQHCs are also an integral part of the state’s Emergency Preparedness Response Plan. “Health centers offer high quality, cost-effective services tailored to the most pressing health problems within their communities," noted Health Resources and Services Administrator Elizabeth M. Duke when announcing the award.

Henry J. Austin Health Center began in 1969 and is named after Dr. Henry James Austin, one of the first African-American physicians to practice in Trenton. Over thirty years later, the Center has grown to incorporate almost 100 staff and several programs, including pediatric, adult medicine, ob/gyn, and dental care, as well as: Successful Weightloss by Eating and Exercising Together (SWEET), a medical and behavioral health services program for overweight children and their families; HIV counseling, testing, and treatment; Pfizer’s Sharing the Care program, which provides medication free of charge to eligible patients; and Hepatitis C, Diabetes, and Asthma disease management.

Individuals in need of health care services can call the Austin Center at (609) 278-5900.

Related Links:

• The Ewing Street Health Center Expansion Program