Our History
In the fall of 2001 the Michigan Primary Care Association approached the Pontiac Health Initiative, a collaboration between the City of Pontiac, North Oakland Medical Center, Pontiac Osteopathic Hospital and St. Joseph Mercy Hospital, to work together to improve the health status of residents in Pontiac and the surrounding communities. The two agencies worked together over the course of the next year to gather information, build community support and apply for federal funding.
In September 2002 Oakland Primary Health Services was officially awarded a Section 330 grant from the Bureau of Primary Health Care to deliver primary and preventive health care services to the medically underserved in Pontiac and the surrounding communities.
After receiving our designation and funding as a Federally Qualified Health Center in September, we opened our doors in December of 2002.
In 2008 The Ethel and James Flinn Foundation awarded OPHS and its partners, Oakland County Community Mental Health Authority and Common Ground, a grant to provide a new model of behavioral health services to our community. The Brief Intervention Model builds on the integrated care model in which a behavioral health specialist is an active participant in the care of OPHS patients
In 2009 OPHS applied for and has been fortunate to receive almost $350,000 in funding via the Capital Improvement Program Grant. OPHS will use this additional one time funding to upgrade our Information Technology infrastructure to a “21st century” practice management system. This new system will give us the tools we need to deliver more accurate and efficient registration experiences, billing processes and reporting. We will also use a portion of the CIP funding to purchase new clinical equipment such as exam tables, vital signs monitors, surgical equipment and other diagnostic equipment.
In October 2009 OPHS began offering Women Infant and Children (WIC) program services. WIC is a program that provides nutritional testing and counseling.
Our health center and services have and will continue to grow to meet the needs of the thousands of individuals and families we are proud to serve today and will serve in the future.
