AxessPointe will add second Portage County location in Ravenna

Portage County is getting a second AxessPointe to provide medical and other services for residents who need care.

The community health care center is preparing to move into space inside a building on Oakwood Street in Ravenna that previously housed the Portage County Health District

More:Kent health care facility to expand, add mobile medical unit

Mark Frisone, CEO of both AxessPointe and Family & Community Services, which owns the Oakwood Street building, said there is a need for another federally qualified health center in Portage County. About 16% to 18% of the patient base at the current AxessPointe in Kent comes from ZIP codes in the Ravenna area.

According to the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration, federally qualifying health centers must serve an underserved area or population, offer a sliding fee scale based on family income for those who can't afford care and provide comprehensive services.

Frisone recently requested, and received, $98,136 in American Rescue Plan Act federal funding from the Portage County Commissioners.

Commissioners said the approval is subject to the county's legal counsel approving the expenditure.

Commissioner Sabrina Christian-Bennett asked Frisone if a market study had been done, noting that two urgent care facilities had recently opened. But Frisone said centers are not primary care providers, while AxessPointe offers medical care, optometry, dentistry and pharmacy services.

The move of the health district to East Main Street in Ravenna left 18,000 square feet on the second floor of the Oakwood Street facility vacant, space that already is set up for medical offices, Frisone said.

Many people still come to the building looking for vaccines and other services that the health department provides since the move, he added.

"We're talking about doctors, nurses, pharmacist, dentist, optometrists," Frisone said, adding that the centers generate $5 to $7 million in payroll at each location.

Frisone said Akron and Summit County are using more than $1 million in ARPA funds to leverage a federally qualified health center near the iPromise School in Akron, and AxessPointe is partnering with the LeBron James Family Foundation to bring the center there. Geauga County also is opening a federally qualified health center using ARPA funds, he said.

AxessPointe also has locations in Barberton and on Arlington Street and South Broadway Street in Akron

"The hometown boy wants to give the hometown team a shot at one of these things," Frisone said. "These are valuable things to have in a community."

Christian-Bennett said she is in favor of the project.

"I think there is a need, and there is going to continue to be a need," she said.

Reporter Diane Smith can be reached at 330-298-1139 or dsmith@recordpub.com.

This article originally appeared on Record-Courier: AxessPointe to add second Portage County location for medical care