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Park West Medical Center, Inc. (PWMC), formerly Park Heights Community Health Center, Northwest Health Services, Inc., is a community based non-profit health care Corporation founded in 1972 through the efforts of Northwest Baltimore Corporation (NWBC). Its purpose was to provide the residents of Northwest Baltimore with a means to plan and provide for their own health care needs. The first Board of Park West Medical Center, Inc. was composed of residents of the area, representatives of various community groups, social service agencies and other local health care providers.
 The first formal meeting of Park West Medical Center was held August 15, 1971, with a committee of eight persons. Seven months later on March 19, 1972 in collaboration with the Baltimore City Health Department, Dr. Saul M. Blumenthal & Associates, and Sinai Hospital, the Park West Medical Center, Inc. opened the Park Heights Community Health Center at 4901 Park Heights Avenue. That Center offered Pediatric, Family Planning and Dental Services to all the residents of the Park Heights/Pimlico area of Baltimore City.
In July 1975, PWMC became a Federally Qualified Health Center funded by the Bureau of Primary Health Care Department of Health and Human Services. In November 1976 PWMC also opened a Geriatric Health Suite in Bel Park Towers for residents of that facility and the elderly residents from the surrounding neighborhoods. Services at that facility included dental screening, general medical services, optometry and podiatry.
PWMC’s reputation for offering medical services grew. PWMC in 1978 leased space in the Pimlico Multi-purpose Center. In order to expand as the composition of the Park Heights Community rapidly changed and the need for affordable health care service continued to grow.
In the early eighties, PWMC in conjunction with Lower Park Heights Coordinating Council opened a satellite center at the Lower Park Heights Multi-purpose Center which remained open for approximately two years. In August 1986, PWMC opened a satellite facility in the Reisterstown Road Shopping Plaza, to provide comprehensive medical care that is both affordable and convenient to meet the needs of Northwest Baltimore and the adjacent Baltimore County area. At the same time, PWMC began over a half million-dollar renovation project to upgrade, expand and revitalize its main location on Belvedere Avenue. After over a year of negotiation with the City of Baltimore, PWMC successfully became the owner of the Belvedere location.
In 1995, with the help of Delegate Salima Siler Marriott and other members of the 40th Legislative District, Park West Medical Center, Inc. was able to obtain Matching Grants from the State of Maryland to assist in the construction of a $2 million dollar Women and Children’s Center on its Belvedere Site location. In 1998, Mercy Medical Center made a financial commitment of $600,000 towards our expansion project. The City of Baltimore in 1999 committed $500,000 to the project. The aforementioned commitments and assistance form 1st Union Bank, Park West Medical Center’s Women and Children Expansion project was completed in July 2002. In June of 2002 the building was dedicated to Mrs. Janie B. Geer and renamed the Janie B. Geer’s Women and Children’s Building.
On April 1, 2002, Park West Medical Center, Inc. assumed the responsibility for the operations of Sinai Community Care & Greenspring Pediatrics Associates facility located on the campus of Sinai Hospital. This site offers a full scope of comprehensive preventive and primary care to all life cycles of the patient population. Special attention will continue to be give to the special care needs of the underserved patients who fall outside of the medical “mainstream” and who need health education, preventive screenings, treatment and disease management for chronic and infectious diseases and addiction or specialized care regardless of ones ability to pay. In May 2002, Park West Medical Center, Inc. changed its name to Park West Health System, Inc. comprising of the Park West Medical Centers Belvedere Site, Plaza Site and Sinai Community Care and Greenspring Pediatrics Associates. |
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