Our History

The Lincoln Heights Health Center, the first Community Health Center in Ohio, opened in 1967 with 6 part-time staff members and a $10,000 grant from the City of Lincoln Heights to provide care to medically underserved City residents.  At that time, Lincoln Heights was the largest self-governed African American city in the nation; however, there were no physicians or dentists practicing there.  The Lincoln Heights Health Center opened in a four room apartment on a shoestring budget, where physicians, nurses and dentists worked solely on a volunteer basis.

And that was just the beginning.  In 1972 the Health Center doubled its size by moving to a newly constructed Community Facilities building.  With funding from the Office of Economic Opportunity (O.E.O.) through the Ambulatory Patient Care Network and the Ohio Department of Health, the Center became a comprehensive, accessible and affordable provider of health care to area residents.  The Lincoln Heights Center remodeled and expanded in 1975 and 1985, and constructed a state-of-the-art facility in 2004, which is where we are today.  To meet the growing need to provide health care services for the underserved in surrounding communities, health centers were opened in two additional neighborhoods.  In 1996, the organization changed its corporate name to the Lincoln Heights HealthCare Connection.  The corporate name was modified to The HealthCare Connection in 2005.

History Highlights

• 1967 – Opened the Lincoln Heights Health Center, first Community Health Center in Ohio
• 1972 – Lincoln Heights Health Center doubled in size and moved into the Lincoln Heights Community Facilities building
• 1974 – Launched the first funded Women Infants Children (WIC) program in Hamilton County
• 1987 – Opened the first neighborhood expansion site at Mt. Healthy Family Practice Center
• 1990 – Partnered with University of Cincinnati Medical Center to expand services in northern Hamilton County while educating health professionals in community health
• 1998 – Opened the second neighborhood health center at Kemper Heights School in Forest Park
• 2002 – Began construction on 42,000 sq. ft. health center and administrative offices in Lincoln Heights
• 2004 – State of the art facility, housing medical, dental, and social services, opened to the public
• 2005 – Changed corporate name to The HealthCare Connection to better reflect mission and affiliations within surrounding communities

We were founded in 1967 as Ohio’s first community health center.  Our mission is the same today as it was when we first opened for operation.  We serve low-income, underinsured, and uninsured persons living in northern Hamilton County.  We make sure they receive the same access to quality healthcare as fully insured persons.

We are a leader in providing affordable and quality healthcare.  We strive to be compassionate.  We respect different cultures.  We team with other agencies in order to meet the complete needs of our patients.

We are proud to be one of five health centers nationally honored as “Models That Work” by the United States Department of Health and Human Services in 1995.  In 2002, the Ohio Association of Community Health Centers gave us the Landmark Recognition Award for our pioneering work in community health.