By Carlton N. Brock III :GBUAHN Corporate Trainer The phrase “new building coming soon,” is typically met with expectations of a long drawn out process and an increase in cost for all business patrons. GBUAHN, the Greater Buffalo United Accountable Healthcare Network, was able to open a new ...

By Carlton N. Brock III :GBUAHN Corporate Trainer

The phrase “new building coming soon,” is typically met with expectations of a long drawn out process and an increase in cost for all business patrons. GBUAHN, the Greater Buffalo United Accountable Healthcare Network, was able to open a new facility at 564 Niagara Street in the West Side while undercutting both of these expectations. They did this by building a multi-million dollar facility in just over a year, all while remaining a free resource for the community. GBUAHN is a Health Home, an organization designed to assist Medicaid patients with two or more chronic illnesses. The new facility makes its stated vision, “to become the Health Home of choice for our chosen market place,” an easier goal to achieve.

The new building, which had its grand opening on September 21, boasts four floors. The lower level is home to GBUAHN’s wellness program, diet and exercise classes for GBUAHN’s members. The gym and kitchen are both state of the art, designed to give GBUAHN’s members the best possible advantage in bettering their fitness and diet. Outside of Wellness, there is a training room which is used for monthly employee classes. GBUAHN hopes to hire more than 300 employees in the future.

The ground level is comprised of the Urban Family Practice medical office, allowing more than 1,500 UFP patients, that are also GBUAHN members have access to both at the same time. Patients of Dr. Raul Vazquez, GBUAHN CEO, along with Dr. Jesslyn Perry and Dr. Chet Fox, all of which are Medicaid recipients can now have an easier access to GBUAHN assistance.

The second and third floors are populated by GBUAHN’s staff of Patient Health Navigators and administrators. The GBUAHN staff is made up of over 150 people that speak 14 languages among them. Languages that the staff speak include Spanish, French, Arabic, Hindi, and Urdu.

Overall, if you are GBUAHN member, or think you qualify, the new building is a very exciting prospect and one that is free for you to use.