In mountainous Western North Carolina, where there is very limited public transportation, many residents must travel 30 minutes or more to reach primary care and mental health services.

That will soon change thanks to a loan from PCDC and the Dogwood Health Trust to the Mountain Community Health Partnership (MCHP), a nonprofit Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC).

MCHP, which has been operating in the region since 1947, operates six primary care sites in Mitchell and Yancey Counties providing medical, dental, behavioral health, prenatal, and pediatric care. They also run school-based health centers. These services are provided in two of the most rural, geographically isolated, and medically underserved counties in the state, both of which are federally designated Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs) and Medically Underserved Areas (MUAs).

The MCHP Burnsville Health Center has more than 300 patients on its waitlist. The $3.5 million loan closed in June will help MCHP expand the Burnsville clinic, adding new exam rooms, behavioral health services, and an in-house pharmacy. The loan will also support a community development campus around MCHP’s Spruce Pine Health Center about 15 miles away, which provides primary care, a pharmacy, and integrated and outpatient behavioral health care – bringing new health services as well as local jobs to this much underserved region.

The MCHP loan is the first deal to close from the $10 million Flexible Loan Fund that Dogwood and PCDC announced in March to support FQHCs in 18 counties in Western North Carolina.

Learn more about our partnership with Dogwood Health Trust.