Fair Haven Health Honored For New HQ

The following press release was submitted by Fair Haven Community Health Care Director of Marking and Communications Kristie Balisciano.

Fair Haven Community Health Care (FHCHC) and Construction Manager, PAC Group have been awarded the Best in Class: Healthcare honor at the CREW CT Blue Ribbon Awards for its innovative facility at 374 Grand Avenue in New Haven.

The project was recognized for excellence in healthcare design and development among projects completed across Connecticut and Western Massachusetts in 2025. The CREW CT Blue Ribbon Awards evaluate projects based on form, function, community impact, and the ability to overcome development challenges.

FHCHC’s Grand Avenue expansion is a state-of-the-art 35,560-square-foot community health center on 4-levels located at 374 Grand Avenue, New Haven and completed in June 2025. The facility includes 26 exam rooms, a behavioral health consult rooms, retail pharmacy, laboratory services, food farmacy and flexible community education spaces—creating a comprehensive, patient-centered model of care. The project demonstrated meaningful community impact, sustainability, and innovation recognized by the Blue Ribbon Award Committee.

A key component of the project’s innovation is the integration of behavioral health with medical services, including the addition of behavioral health consult rooms imbedded within the medical exam floors. The facility also supports FHCHC’s role as a teaching health center, expanding training spaces for the Internal Medicine and Combined Internal Medicine/Pediatrics training programs. In addition, the building has dedicated space to launch the Food as Medicine program, which increases access to healthy food options for patients struggling with food insecurity.

The new building was developed with a strong focus on community engagement to reflect the needs of the Fair Haven neighborhood where many residents face socioeconomic barriers to accessing health care.

“The CREW CT Blue Ribbon Award recognition reflects our ongoing commitment to providing high-quality care in the Fair Haven community,” said Dr. Suzanne Lagarde, FHCHC CEO. “This facility allows us to expand clinical programs to better meet the needs of our patients, is designed to be a sustainable all-electric building to maximize energy efficiency and to architecturally fit right into the vibrant Grand Avenue corridor.”



The project team included:

• Owner: Fair Haven Community Health Care
• Construction Manager: PAC Group LLC
• Architect: E4H Environments for Health Architecture
• Owner’s Project Manager: Colliers Project Leaders
• MEP Engineer: Fitzemeyer & Tocci Associates
• Civil Engineer: Benesch

This award highlights FHCHC’s commitment to innovation, sustainability, and community impact, and sets a new standard for integrated, patient-centered community health care.

About Fair Haven Community Health Care

FHCHC is a federally qualified community health center (“FQHC”) established in 1971 in New Haven, CT by local activists. A nationally recognized leader in addressing health disparities in an urban community, FHCHC offers high quality, comprehensive health care to medically underserved and uninsured families. FHCHC serves over 38,000 patients at over 168,000 appointments/yr. Over three hundred clinicians and staff ensure that patients have access to high quality care (prenatal through geriatric). FHCHC provides a full spectrum of primary medical care, mental health services, wellness support, pharmacy and dentistry at 21 locations in the greater New Haven area. FHCHC has recently been awarded the Silver Award for Health Center Quality Leaders from the Federal Health Resources & Services Administration. FHCHC has also been recognized as a “patient centered medical home” by both The Joint Commission and by the National Committee for Quality Assurance.www.fhchc.org.