Congresswoman Kuster visits HealthFirst Family Health Care in Franklin

FRANKLIN — Congresswoman Annie Kuster and members of her staff visited HealthFirst Family Care Center on Monday, Sept. 12, to tour its Franklin health center, meet with members of their leadership team, and representatives from Bi-State Primary Care Association. The Congresswoman listened to concerns facing HealthFirst and New Hampshire’s Community Health Centers, continuing her strong commitment to assure affordable comprehensive primary care access for all, through her work in Washington DC.

HealthFirst has been fortunate to already have been awarded Congressionally Directed Spending funding from Senator Shaheen’s office and they hope to as well from Congresswoman Kuster’s office. CDS funding will be used to renovate their existing Franklin health center and potentially expand their footprint to provide adequate space to grow service lines and be able to increase access to patient care.

HealthFirst CEO Russell Keene said, “We have been fortunate to have the Congresswoman’s support along with the rest of our federal delegation as they have played a critical role in assisting us with acquiring different funding sources that will help HealthFirst renovate and expand our two health centers. This support will better position HealthFirst to meet the region’s growing need for access to primary and behavioral health care.”

The expansion of HealthFirst’s Franklin health center will be dependent upon adequate funding, and should it all come together, renovation could begin by early 2023.