Ribbon Cut For Q House Health Hub

Gayle Hall, a self-described ​“lifetime member of the Q House,” celebrated a newfound chance to see her doctor at the newly-revived community center in the neighborhood she calls home.

Hall joined politicians from every level of government and 100 healthcare workers and community members at a ribbon cutting for Cornell Scott Hill Health Center’s new location in the Dixwell Q House. 

Three weeks ago, the community health center expanded its Dixwell clinic to a gleaming new part of the Q House. While child and family guidance services are still based out of 226 Dixwell Ave., most of the organization’s Dixwell offices have moved across the street to share a roof with the Stetson Library, LEAP, and the Dixwell/Newhallville Senior Center at 197 Dixwell Ave. 

The health center is the most recent organization to bring life into the historic community center, which had closed down at the start of the century for 18 years before a persistent campaign from local residents and politicians rebuilt and revived it by 2021.

“We’re home, and we’re here to stay,” said Cornell Scott Hill Health CEO Michael Taylor. 

Hall, who described her age as ​“80 and a little over — we’ll leave it at that,” recalled her childhood at the former iteration of the Q House. The community center ​“taught me how to stand up and be proud,” she said. 

At Cornell Scott Hill’s Dixwell clinic, Hall described a similar sense of ease. ​“Carolyn at the front desk always made me feel so comfortable,” Hall said. ​“I have always felt comfortable, I have always felt wanted, I have always felt taken care of” at Cornell Scott Hill.

The medical organization is Connecticut’s first federally-qualified community health center, and now serves over 50,000 patients per year. It is celebrating its 55th year of providing healthcare to New Haven residents, with an emphasis on serving low-income patients of color regardless of insurance access or ability to pay.

At the ribbon cutting, speakers emphasized that the health center provides medical care that meets hospital-grade standards and links a variety of medical specialties together. The Q House location will include not only adult medical care, but dental, behavioral health, and — for the first time in Dixwell — pediatric services.

Emelie Agrinsoni and Kenia Nuila staffed the pediatric waiting room as a stream of people toured the new medical offices. The Q House location has allowed the health center to provide children’s medical care in Dixwell for the first time.

Nuila said she’s been glad to see ​“a lot of walk-ins” at the new location.

Meanwhile, dental assistant Hasina Henderson said the new space hasn’t changed the substance of her work. ​“We still do what we did across the street,” she said. The main benefit, she said, is access and convenience. ​“If you are wheelchair-bound or have no transportation,” most medical needs that such a patient might have can be treated in the same building, alongside a wide range of social services.

The political leaders at Monday’s event spoke at length about Cornell Scott Hill’s track record and future.

“Everybody wants a facility like this,” said Dixwell Alder Jeanette Morrison, who championed the community center’s revival in her ward. She later cited a statistic from LEAP that 800 people utilize the Q House every week; she said she hopes that number will triple with the health center’s new presence.

“It is the best health care,” said former Mayor Toni Harp, who shepherded much of the city’s efforts to rebuild the Q House. Harp praised the array of medical specialties that the organization provides: ​“you can’t separate the mouth from the leg from the stomach,” she said — so health care should account for everything from dentistry to mental health services.

Others touched on the significance of the reopening to broader issues of health and economic disparities affecting primarily Black and Brown communities like Dixwell.

State Rep. Robyn Porter spoke of an enduring lack of access to high-quality and affirming healthcare in Black communities. ​“In New Haven, Black women are seven times more likely to die in childbirth,” she said. Black infants are ​“four to five times more likely to die” than white babies. 

In addition to praising Cornell Scott Hill, Porter touted the passage of a bill that would fund birthing centers across the state. ​“We need one in New Haven,” she said.

Her colleague, State Rep. Toni Walker, reflected on the transformation of that block of Dixwell Avenue.

“For a while, we got very worried that Dixwell Avenue was going down,” said State Rep. Toni Walker. That’s no longer a fear, she said, in part thanks to the Q House. 

Walker turned to address Dixwell residents: ​“This is your heart,” she said. ​“Nobody will take it away, nobody will gentrify it. Dixwell Avenue is rising again.”