On October 11, Primary Care Health Services, Inc. (PCHS) broke ground on what will become Wilford A. Payne Medical Center in Homewood. 

Eden Hall Foundation – Leading the Charge

“When I reached out to [Eden Hall Foundation] as the first foundation that I reached out to about this vision, [Sylvia Fields] said, ‘You deserve a new health center, and I want to help you,’” Dr. Jerome Gloster, CEO of PCHS, said. “Since then, she’s championed the cause, and this tremendous work is because of her belief in this cause, this community and breaking down disparities and barriers in health.”

We at Eden Hall Foundation are proud to support PCHS’s journey to a new health center.

 “Health equity means that everybody has fair access to the opportunities and care they need to achieve their highest level of health,” said Sylvia Fields, president of Eden Hall Foundation. “Dr. Gloster and his team at PCHS are leaders of health equity, and this state-of-the-art facility will allow them to elevate their offerings and continue providing exceptional, top-quality services to the community.”

History of PCHS

Primary Care Health Services, Inc. (PCHS) is a private, community-based nonprofit corporation, formed in 1976 as the successor to the Homewood-Brushton Neighborhood Health Center (founded in 1968.)

The health center was subsequently renamed the "Alma Illery Medical Center" to honor the civic leader and community champion, Mrs. Alma Illery, who received an Honorary Doctorate in Humanities from Tuskegee University for her advocacy of racial integration in hospitals and promotion of training minorities for careers in health care.

The Alma Illery Medical Center is the flagship for a countywide network that includes nine medical facilities, four dental clinics, seven healthcare services for the homeless and one family support services site, all tailored to meet the community's needs. PCHS ensures that quality medical and dental care is accessible to both children and adults, regardless of their financial situation.

Dr. Gloster was named CEO of PCHS in 2018. Dr. Gloster is a pediatrician with 25 years of experience in clinical medicine, including 13 years as the chief medical officer for two different federally qualified health centers (FQHCs,) chief physician consultant to the Allegheny County Health Department’s Maternal and Child Health program, medical director and physician consultant to Healthy Start and consultant school physician to the Pittsburgh and Wilkinsburg School Districts. The new building will realize his most ambitious vision yet — constructing a brand new, state-of-the-art health center that will elevate and expand PCHS’s offerings.

Honoring Wilford A. Payne

“Isn’t this a great morning?” Dr. Gloster asked the audience as he took the podium. 

The active audience clapped, cheered and nodded in agreement. Surrounded by yellow and blue balloons on a sunny day, the energy at the groundbreaking embodies excitement, joy and achievement. Dr. Gloster announced the name of the new building: The Wilford A. Payne Medical Center. 

“This name is so fitting in recognition of a man who blazed the path in the public health arena,” Dr. Jerome Gloster, CEO of PCHS, said. “Upon completion of this building, it will reflect the dignity and respect our community deserves and one in which the future building’s namesake, Wilford A. Payne, would be proud.”

Wilford A. Payne was the executive director of the medical center from 1977 to 2016 and one of the early founders of PCHS. Payne expanded the health center into a large network of private clinics in Allegheny County and fought for decades to integrate mental health services into primary care. He also played a pivotal role in driving both the state and national health center movement.

“Wilford Payne is our history,” Mayor of Pittsburgh Ed Gainey shared with the audience. “If it wasn’t for Wilford Payne, we wouldn’t be standing here today.” 

Breaking Ground

Dr. Gloster described some new features of the facility, including:

  • Homeless services
  • A retail pharmacy
  • Warm, welcoming spaces for the community
  • A wellness program with the addition of a nutritionist to the PCHS staff
  • Maternal and child health home-visiting partnership programming to decrease low birth rate and infant mortality
  • A health education program for pregnant women focusing on improving the quality of life for infants, toddlers and children
  • Inclusive, sensory-friendly programming and spaces for individuals with intellectual disabilities

In addition to offering these services, the new center will serve as the hub for several partner agencies such as Healthy Start, Homewood Children’s Village and more — all of which address health and wellness. 

Gloster and his staff have raised over $18 million so far toward the construction of the building from both public and private sources.

Rep. Summer Lee (PA) shared her support for PCHS and shared a personal experience as a patient at the Alma Illery Medical Center. 

“It’s so important to be here celebrating today,” she said. “It’s a beautiful day to celebrate not just the dream turned into reality but to celebrate what’s going to come out of this, to celebrate the lives that will be touched by the work you do, by the labor that you have put in, that so many in this community have put into this. This is not just brick and mortar. This is not just going to a building. This is going to be so much more: hope, service and compassion.”

Lee was uninsured and sick as a law school student. She received care at the Alma Illery Medical Center.

“I am somebody who has my own personal experience with the Alma Illery,” Lee shared. “It was the place that was here for me when I had nowhere else to go, and I received compassionate and dignified care.”

Lee continued: “Whether they are unemployed, uninsured, impoverished or downtrodden, everybody in our community, especially in a city that boasts having a world-class medical center, should have access to quality healthcare, wraparound services but also to conditions that lead them to thrive, succeed and live.”

For more updates on PCHS and the construction of the new health center, visit edenhallfdn.org or follow our Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram pages.