Saint John Fisher College will be using a five-year, $ 1 million grant from Excellus BlueCross BlueShield to expand health care services for the uninsured in Rochester.
Excellus made the announcement Wednesday for the creation of the Fisher Prime Care Nursing Center at St. Joseph's Neighborhood Center on South Avenue.
Dr. Dianne Cooney Miner is the founding Dean of the Wegmans School of Nursing at Fisher. She says the collaboration between the school and the center will provide patients with primary care and mental health counseling services.
"And at the same time, not only providing services to patients but also, having it be a clinical placement opportunity for our nurse practitioner or doctor of nursing practice as well as our undergraduate students in their roles that they are learning to master."
The grant will provide care services for up to 60 patients a week.
According to a recent report by Excellus, upstate New York has an 11% uninsured rate compared to the national average of 16%.