January 2014 NCFHC’s medical and dental programs are consolidated under the leadership of a Clinical Operations Officer, overseeing pediatric and adult medical, school-based health, behavioral health, and dental programs.
February 2014 – Joey Marie Horton named Executive Director of the Health Center.

August 2014 – NCFHC, SMC and the NYS DOH agree that the Temporary Operator oversight can be ended and control of the agency returned to the NCFHC Board of Directors.

September 2014 – NCFHC opens Family Health Center in Lowville.

January 2015 – Achieved 100% compliance on a federal onsite Operational Site Visit which assessed NCFHC’s compliance with its programmatic requirements.

March 2015 – NCFHC achieves Level 3 Patient-Centered Medical Home Status via the National Committee on Quality Assurance. Two family nurse practitioners begin working in the Watertown Pediatric office – moving toward an integrated family health practice.

May 2015 – NCFHC receives notification that FQHC grant has been approved for the next 3-year cycle.

June 2015 – NCFHC adds dental services to offerings at Lowville Family Health Center.

September 2015 – NCFHC announces plans to transition the oversight of St. Lawrence and Franklin County WIC Program to Community Health Center of the North Country. This will align WIC programs with FQHC areas of coverage and provide easier access to medical, behavioral health and oral health services to WIC participants in those counties. The transition period will begin in October, 2015 and is expected to last six months.

NCFHC receives HRSA Expanded Services grant to fund the increase dental services provided in Lowville to full-time.

October 2015 – NCFHC and Samaritan Medical Center Boards of Directors sign Memorandum of Agreement to work toward a plan to transition the oversight of SMC Family Practice Clinics to NCFHC.

October 2015 – A new School-Based Dental Program was established at Alexandria Central School District (dental services).

January 2016 – NCFHC officially transfers WIC programs and staff to Community Health Center of the North Country.

April 2016 – NCFHC is 2nd in region and 3rd in State to receive Level 3 Patient Centered Medical Home Status under more rigorous 2014 standards.

May 2016 – NCFHC receives notification of the award of a $1 million in HRSA grant funding for infrastructure investment. The funds come as a result of an application submitted to expand clinical space, create a centralized check-in/check-out area, and promote further integration of medical, behavioral health, and dental services at 238 Arsenal Street.

After eight months of exploring the potential transfer of Samaritan’s primary care clinics to the North Country Family Health Center (NCFHC), the respective Boards of both organizations voted to suspend the joint due diligence activities, thus deciding not to proceed with the move.

October 2016 – A School-Based Dental Program commences at Copenhagen Central School District.

October 2016 – Executive Director Joey M. Horton was presented with the Jeffrey T. Latman Award at the Community Health Center Association of New York State (CHCANYS) Annual Conference on October 31 in Tarrytown, New York. The award honors a health center executive who has shown exceptional commitment, dedication and service to his or her health center.

February 2017 – Staff begins training on the 2017 Be Brilliant staff initiative. The training entitled “Be Brilliant: Promoting Positivity in the Workplace” is conducted by Cortel Improvement.

March 2017 – Elaine Garvey, Marketing Director, retires after 34 years of employment. The Board of Directors presented Elaine with a resolution acknowledging her many years of service to NCFHC. April Fallon is hired as Director of Marketing and Community Relations.

March 2017 – NCFHC is selected as the 2016 Large Not-For-Profit Business of the Year by the Greater Watertown North Country Chamber of Commerce.

April 2017 – NCFHC closes its Family Practice medical site in Lowville due to lack of appointments. The Lowville dental site continues to operate with a full time dentist.

May 2017 – On May 30th NCFHC opens its newest dental site in Evans Mills in the LeRay Medical Building as part of a federal Oral Health Expansion Grant.

May 2017 – NCFHC began offering Medication Assisted Treatment to primary care patients at NCFHC’s main facility at 238 Arsenal Street.

June 2017 – NCFHC’s Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program opened a site at the LeRay Medical Building and began offering WIC services to participants living on and around the Fort Drum Area.

June 2017 – NCFHC’s Board of Directors approved a bid from Continental Construction, Gouverneur, for a $1.8M capital project at NCFHC’s main location at 238 Arsenal Street. The project was partially funded by a $1M HRSA Healthcare Infrastructure Investment Grant Program. Construction began on July 5, 2017. Construction was organized into three main phases and was set to conclude in July 2018.

August, 2017 – Workers from Continental Construction and their subcontractors continue demolition work. Construction temporarily re-located NCFHC’s Watertown WIC program to 210 Court Street.

September 2017 – NCFHC received a $175,700 federal grant to expand access to behavioral health and substance abuse services. The grant allowed NCFHC to expand its telepsychiatry services to provide weekly appointments to primary care patients in need of psychiatry evaluation and treatment. NCFHC hired a full-time Substance Abuse Care Coordinator to support patients suffering from substance use disorders.

November 2017 – A renovated WIC Department and the new central registration area at NCFHC’s main location is completed and open to patients/clients. WIC moves back from their temporary location.

November 2017 – A School-Based Dental Program commences at South Lewis Central School District.

November 2017 – Mannsville Manor Elementary School-Based Health Center celebrates 10 years of service.

March 2018 – On March 19th Excellus BlueCross BlueShield, along with NCFHC, held a joint press conference announcing the BCBS grant of $133,500. The announcement was hosted at Ohio Street Elementary. The grant allowed NCFHC to purchase five mobile, school-based dental units.

August 2018 – NCFHC hosted an open house at its 238 Arsenal Street facility celebrating completion of the HRSA HIIP Capital Project. The Finance Team that was housed at 210 Court Street, in rented space, was moved back to NCFHC’s main location.

Fall 2018 NCFHC received a $300,000 Empire State Development Grant in the fall of 2018 with assistance from Senator Patty Ritchie to expand its school-based dental services.

December 2018 NCFHC staff and local political and school representatives celebrated the NCFHC’s 25th year of providing healthcare to students at their School-Based Health Center at North Elementary, 171 East Hoard Street.

January 2019 Began providing preventative dental services to students enrolled in the ACES Program at Jefferson Lewis BOCES via its mobile School-Based Dental Program.

February 2019 NCFHC began providing preventative dental services to students at Lyme Central School as result of the Empire State Development Grant.

May 2019 NCFHC hosted its 20th annual spring fundraiser, entitled Night on the River, which raised over $50,000 for the first time.

August 2019 Received a $145,000 HRSA grant for Integrated Behavioral Health Services to further expand its tele-psychiatry and care coordination service.

September 2019 Received a $300,000 grant from the United States Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) to assist with the expansion of oral health services in Lewis County. NCFHC was one of 298 health centers nationwide to receive funding. The grant money will allow for renovation and expansion of dental services at the Lowville community-based site located within Lewis County General Hospital, 7785 North State Street, Lowville.

November 2019 Achieved 100% compliance on a federal onsite Operational Site Visit which assessed NCFHC’s compliance with its programmatic requirements. This was NCFHC’s second perfect site visit since it became a FQHC in 2012.

December 2019 Anna Belle Hyde, a family nurse practitioner within our School-Based Health Program was named New York State’s 2019 “HPV Vaccine is Cancer Prevention Champion” by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC for her successful work in promoting the vaccine.)

February 2020 – Opened a fourth Community Health Center at Jefferson Community College providing medical and behavioral health services. The Health Center is open to both students and faculty on campus as well as individuals in the community.

March 13, 2020 Incident Command of the Emergency Preparedness Program was activated given the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, dental services were suspended by New York State and the majority of the dental team was temporarily laid off (emergency services continued to be offered); telemedicine was immediately deployed for medical and dental visits; a large proportion of non-clinical employees were moved to remote work; and all WIC services were moved to remote only.  After 81 days, Incident Command concluded as all services re-opened as of June 3, 2020. School-Based dental services remained suspended through September 2021. COVID-19 safety protocols continued to be followed through the spring of 2023.

July 2020 Received Department of Health approval to commence mobile COVID-19 testing services.  Began offering COVID-testing in the parking lot and various community-based locations. 

July 2020 Received approval from the Department of Health to commence construction at the Lowville Dental & WIC location. Northern Tier Contracting commenced construction in September. All major construction concluded in May 2021. 

October 8, 2020 Transported our first patient as transportation was moved to a Column I service.

October 20, 2020 Went live on athenaOne EHR for medical and behavioral health services; transitioning from athenaPratice formally named GE Centricity.

November 11, 2020 Went live on Dentrix EHR for all dental services; transitioning from VisDental. Brought dental billing in-house prior to the transition. 

December 22, 2020 Provided our first COVID-19 vaccine thus commencing our COVID-19 vaccination efforts.  Healthcare providers were vaccinated first following NYS protocols. 

January 2021 The Board approved moving forward with an expansion project that would add 3 dental exam rooms and a new lab to the Watertown Dental location. Additionally, an expansion evaluation project commenced with the assistance of HOLT Architects to evaluate options for expanding the primary care footprint of the Main Campus location at 238 Arsenal Street. 

April 2021 Received Department of Health approval to commence mobile vaccination services and thus commenced our community-based COVID-19 vaccination program.   

May 2021 Began collaborating with Credo Community Services to offer the Opioid Overdose Prevention Program; one staff was trained to distribute Narcan to patients in May.  Approval to commence distribution occurred in October 2021.

June 1, 2021 After 15 months, given the COVID-10 pandemic, WIC re-opened its doors to participants to pick up Farmers’ Market checks in-person. Visits continue to be offered remotely given the Federal Emergency designation.

July 2021 The Board of Directors approved submission of a $1.2M capital expansion project of the Main Campus; partially funded by a HRSA Capital Grant totaling $640,000.  The expansion project will add 1,700 square feet to the Main Campus building for additional primary care space and renovate the basement into additional Administrative space.

July 2021   The Happiness Advantage | Orange Frog employee training commenced.  All employees were trained by August 30th and the Be Brilliant employee culture was transformed into the Brilliantly Orange culture in September 2021.  The culture continues to focus on RESPECT, while highlighting the importance of positive psychology to increase levels of employee happiness and positivity within the workplace. 

August 2021  Received approval from the Department of Health to commence construction at the Main Campus to expand the footprint of the Dental Department.  Administrative space was taken over to add three additional dental operatories and a new dental lab. Northern Tier Contracting commenced construction on September 21, 2021. The project concluded on July 13, 2022.

July 2021   The Board of Directors approved a new strategic plan focused on three main categories: Provider of Choice, Employer of Choice, and Community Partner of Choice.

October  2021  NoCo celebrated 50 years of service to the North Country communities.  We were unable to celebrate in person given COVID-19 but did do some social media posts and internal communication.

November 2021   Submitted our HRSA Service Area Competition.  Notice of Award, totaling $1,906,591, was provided on 5/13/22 covering the grant period of June 2022 to May 2025.

April 2022   The NYS Department of Health approved commencement of the aforementioned 1,700 sf construction project at the Main Campus.  Northern Tier Contracting commenced construction in July 2022.

June 2022   The Board of Directors agreed to lease part of the administrative space at the Main Campus to Parkview Health Services to create an onsite patient pharmacy.  Parkview hired Northern Tier Contracting to complete the renovations. Renovations were concluded in July 2023.

October 2022   A NoCo’s Endowment Fund was created at the Northern NY Community Foundation.  We began educating potential donors on the various ways to donate to the Health Center.

May 2023   Completed our first home visit with a patient utilizing the MedPod device and telemedicine services.  The MedPod allows the Health Center to complete full primary care appointments for patients who are unable to leave their home using telemedicine peripherals and a tele-presenter.