August 2018
August 2018 Newsletter
Urban Family Practice Health Fair reflects revitalization of Niagara Street
Urban Family Practice (UFP) brought back an old favorite and this time supersized it! On Saturday, July 21, 2018, from 12:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. , UFP closed Niagara Street between Jersey Street and Pennsylvania Avenue for the 2018 Urban Family Practice Health Fair. The fair celebrated the community and the important role Urban Family Practice has played on the West Side of Buffalo for over 20 years. Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown and New York State Senator Tim Kennedy both spoke at the fair. United Healthcare Community Plan sponsored the festival. 

The event featured over 20 health care vendors, health screenings (including blood pressure, blood glucose testing and BMI), free food, music, and chances to win bikes, iPads and bins filled with needed household items. A family-friendly event, there were also plenty of children’s activities, including: pony rides, face painting, a bounce house and a cotton candy machine. 
Niagara Street has blossomed in the past year since UFP and the Greater Buffalo United Accountable Healthcare Network (GBUAHN) opened their new facility at 564 Niagara Street, bringing growth and opportunity to the community.

“Urban Family Practice and GBUAHN connect residents to vital primary care services that enable them to improve their quality of life,” said Raul Vazquez, M.D., Urban Family Practice and GBUAHN Chief Executive Officer. “Once a community is healthy, it starts to thrive…and that is what we’re seeing here. Bringing in patients also creates a need for various types of commerce, and we are watching businesses come to the Lower West Side, creating jobs and opportunities.”

More than 50,000 patients will walk through the doors of the facility each year. The UFP Health Fair is a way of giving back to the community; of saying thank you for taking the practice in as a neighbor.

Urban Family Practice filling primary care gap on Buffalo’s East Side

Open house celebrated keeping family medicine in East Side neighborhood
Urban Family Practice (UFP) held an open house on Saturday, June 2, 2018 from 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. to introduce its new clinic at 1315 Jefferson Avenue, Buffalo 14208. Last year, the former tenant of the Jefferson Avenue physician’s office, (UB Family Medicine), closed, leaving the neighborhood without a primary care clinic.

In June 2017, 7,000 patients received a letter stating that UB Family Medicine was shutting its doors, leaving these individuals without a convenient, close-to-home, family doctor. Dr. Raul Vazquez, chief executive officer of Urban Family Practice and G-Health Enterprises (which includes affiliates GBUAHN and GBUACO) purchased the clinic, expanding his busy West Side primary practice to the East Side. 

Dr. Chet Fox, Urban Family Practice and G-Health Enterprises’ chief medical officer, and a former professor at the State University New York at Buffalo Medical School, oversees the new Jefferson Urban Family Practice. Dr. Fox is a long-time health care champion for Buffalo’s East Side and he praised Dr. Vazquez’s move.  
“I’m excited that we can do this for the community, I’m excited that we can restore primary care, and that we can do it in a way that we’re building the care model of the future,” said Dr. Fox. “It’s about value, but it’s about quality at the most efficient cost – it’s about doing the right thing for the right person at the right time.”

The highlight of the day came when Dr. Vazquez announced he would be giving every single child in attendance a new bike. The open house also included: a free bike helmet giveaway, free lunch vouchers, music, lots of dancing, bike and television giveaways, and more. United Healthcare Community Plan sponsored the event
Dr. Vazquez bought a bike for every child at the UFP Jefferson open house on June 2, 2018
GBUAHN proudly represents at Juneteenth 2018
The GBUAHN family was out in full force at the 2018 Juneteenth Festival, June 16 – 17, at Martin Luther King, Junior Park. This year marked the 43 nd consecutive year for the festival. Buffalo holds the third largest Juneteenth celebration in the U.S.

Community health workers and patient health navigators were on hand to enroll new members and there was a health demonstration showing “How much sugar is in your drink?” 

Juneteenth is the oldest observance of the ending of slavery in the U.S. It dates back to June 19, 1865 when thousands of people flooded the streets of Galveston, Texas, rejoicing in their newly announced freedom. Juneteenth celebrations commemorate that memorable day, and emphasize the achievements of African Americans. Marked by community celebrations, guest speakers, picnics and family gatherings, it is a time for reflection and rejoicing.   
City of Buffalo elementary, middle and high school students help kick off Mayor Byron Brown’s 2018 Summer Reading Program. GBUAHN is a sponsor of the program.
GBUAHN | 716.247.5282 | www.GBUAHN.org |