Brownstone Ambulatory Care Services officially became Hartford Hospital Community Health Oct. 28 as it welcomes patients to a gleaming, new building on Jefferson Street.

Known for years as the Brownstone Clinic, Hartford Hospital Community Health now greets patients at its longtime home on Retreat Avenue and at 132 Jefferson Street.

In announcing the new name at a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Thursday, Dr. Jack Ross, chief of infectious diseases at Hartford Hospital, said, “Our mission is quite clear: We will improve the health, and we will improve the healing of the people in the community that we serve. I think that name reflects that. I think it’s a name that sets a standard for the future in the city of Hartford and the region.”

Hartford Hospital President Bimal Patel recognized the hospital and community leadership, contractors, architects, donors and staff who helped to make the new building possible.

“Today is about the heart and soul of our organization,” he said. “I want to recognize that providing subsidized care doesn’t mean substandard care. Providing this particular care is also a teaching moment. It’s also about prevention. The 7,000 individuals [at Hartford Hospital] are committed to doing this work.”

How the Brownstone helped an Enfield man:

Over $3.4 million in philanthropic support was raised for the Community Health building on Jefferson Street — representing over 40 percent of the funds required to complete it. Among the lead donors were Hartford Hospital employees, who contributed $92,000 through the Hartford HealthCare Employee Giving Campaign.

For nearly five decades, Hartford Hospital’s community health program has provided essential services to patients in the community regardless of their ability to pay. Many people who visit the health center have limited resources and medically complex needs, such as diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, chronic pain and psychosocial challenges. Hartford Hospital Community Health provides these patients with access to much-needed quality primary, dental and specialty care, as well as social and human services.

The services that have moved to 132 Jefferson Street are Primary Care — which includes nearly 41 residents and supervisors and more than 15 support staff taking care of 4,800 patients; the Community Care Center, which is a (Ryan White) Center for Excellence, with one of the most extensive HIV facilities in the state; and the Hartford Hospital Infectious Disease Department. The Cystic Fibrous Center and the Dental Clinic will remain at the Retreat Avenue location.

“The new Brownstone becomes an opportunity not just to occupy a new edifice, but a new way of delivering healthcare,” said Dr. Cunegundo Vergara, medical director of Hartford Hospital Community Health, at the ribbon-cutting,

With a focus on wellness and prevention, plans for the center include partnering with community and other organizations to address social determinants of health. One partnership with Greater Hartford Legal Aid will bring lawyers to the health center to see patients who may benefit from legal assistance. The health center will also partner with the national organization Wholesome Wave to help poorly controlled diabetics access affordable, healthful fruits and vegetables through local stores and services, such as C-Town Supermarkets and Hartford Mobile Food Market.

Hartford Hospital “was founded on the very purpose of community—of meeting a need,” said Hartford HealthCare President and CEO Jeffrey Flaks. “From the very beginning, we were about serving this community and all people under all circumstances. Today, with this ribbon-cutting, it renews that level of commitment 165 years later.”

For more information on Brownstone Ambulatory Care Services, now Hartford Hospital Community Health, click here.