New Barbara L. Willis Wellness Center Opens, Expands Accessible Health Care

By Jaylen Scott
Winter Intern
New Journal and Guide

PORTSMOUTH
The Hampton Roads Community Health Center held a grand opening of their new building, the Barbara L Willis Wellness Center, on January 27. The building is named after their CEO, Barbara L Willis, and is located at 1541 High Street in Portsmouth, Virginia.

The Hampton Roads Community Health Center, or the HRCHC, has been stationed in the Hampton Roads area for 27 years, forming on May 14, 1995, formally known as the Portsmouth Community Health Center. The center was formed after a study was conducted by the Mayor of the City of Portsmouth in 1992, where they discovered that there was a shortage and misdistribution of primary care physicians to an estimated 37,000 Portsmouth residents. According to the HRCHC, because a majority of residents were uninsured, or if they were insured, they were unable to find a doctor. This left them open to the inappropriate use of the city’s health department and hospital emergency rooms.

From that point on, the HRCHC kept expanding and expanding, in the Hampton Roads region, and as of 2023, they now have seven locations. They have the Portsmouth Community Health Center, the Park Place Family Medical Center, the Communicare Family Health Center, the Oceanview Medical and Dental Center, and the Little Creek Family Medical Center, which is temporarily closed due to Covid.

HRCHC handles a variety of medical treatments including, but not limited to: Pediatrics, Dental, OB/GYN, Behavioral Health, Internal Medicine, and more.