Blackstone Valley Topping Off Ceremony
Pawtucket, RI – It is with great pleasure that Blackstone Valley Community Health Care (BVCHC) hoisted the last piece
of steel onto the Central Falls Neighborhood Health Station Monday, April 23rd during the official “topping off
ceremony”. The ceremony was punctuated with comments from BVCHC’s Executive Director, Raymond Lavoie, Sr.
Population Health & Clinical Services Officer, Michael Fine, MD, and longtime supporter Central Falls Mayor James A.
Diossa. «I’d like to thank the Blackstone Valley Community Health Center for their commitment to bringing a
neighborhood health station to the City,» said Mayor James A. Diossa. «The steel topping off ceremony is a symbol of all
of the work that has been done so far to ensure that our residents have access to health care in close proximity. I am
excited for the completion this fall!»
“This topping off ceremony indicates that we are near the end of the journey. The journey began back in the Fall of 2013
when Dr. Michael Fine, as the Director of the RI Dept. of Health, conducted a listening tour of Central Falls just after the
City emerged from bankruptcy.” Raymond Lavoie goes on to say, “What we heard from the citizens was loud and clear:
that Central Falls needed more access to health care. Blackstone Valley Community Health Care, with this new 47,000
square foot health center, it attempting to satisfy that demand. We are building the nation’s first Neighborhood Health
Station here that will provide 90% of the health care needs of 90% of the residents, all in one convenient location. We
expect the grand opening will occur in September, and I will let Glenn Ahlborg speak to that.” BVCHC Board Chair, John
Lefrancios was unable to attend, but provided a statement to Raymond Lavoie, “I’m sure former chairs Jack Gannon and
Ron Winter, as well as the full board of directors Norm Deguilio, Michelle Enos, Rosalina Limardo, Alba Figueroa,
Elizabeth Morais, and Sandra Cano, join with me in commending the BVCHC Senior Management Team today. Since
joining us, their professionalism and confidence have inspired the board to enthusiastically embrace this project. Also, our
thanks to those dedicated board members who could not attend because of business or work commitments. They may not
be here today, but most importantly, they can be depended on to show up when it counts. Their unheralded efforts help
ensure that BVCHC continues to evolve while providing indispensable services to the community.”
Dr. Michael Fine added, “For me personally, this is a twenty five year dream, it’s huge. Its way bigger for the city and the
country because this really has the capacity to change how we do healthcare, to create a healthcare system, not a market
that is for the people and not for profit. It is worth mentioning that when we had the meeting back in 2013, we did it in
Spanish with an English translation and that really changed how we approached the world.”
The Central Falls Neighborhood Health Station will be operational by the Fall. Blackstone Valley Express Health located
at 1000 Broad St, formally known as Notre Dame Ambulatory is open during construction, Monday through Friday 8am
to 5pm, closed for lunch daily from 12-1pm and no appointment necessary.