\n
\n <\/a><\/p>\n
The merger will extend Union Community Care\u2019s reach into a fourth county, as it also serves Chester and Lebanon counties. There will be no immediate change to services at any location.<\/p>\n
\u201cBerks Community Health Center has been around since 2012, and they exist to serve vulnerable populations who have medical needs,\u201d said Alisa Jones, president and CEO of Union Community Care. \u201cAnd just like Union Community Care, they offer services regardless of ability to pay. Everyone is welcome. They serve a very high percentage of individuals of racial ethic minority background and a significant number of those (for whom) English is not their first language. So, in many ways, both the populations we serve and how we serve them is essentially the same.\u201d<\/p>\n
Union Community Care’s budget is $75 million, and in 2025, it served 182,123 patients. Berks Community Health Center’s budget is $21 million. Last year, it served 78,153 patients.<\/p>\n
Union, which has 400 employees and 14 locations, will gain 125 employees in Berks County, as well as the three Berks health center facilities in Reading, two of which are leased and one of which is owned. The Berks center\u2019s mobile clinic, which offers both medical and dental care, will become part of Union Community Care\u2019s mobile healthcare fleet. The Lancaster-based health center currently has one mobile medical clinic and one mobile dental clinic that travel to senior centers, homeless shelters, churches or wherever there is a need.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere isn\u2019t a location that we wouldn\u2019t be willing to take the mobile vehicle to because it\u2019s really our way of reducing the barrier of getting to a health center, which can be transportation barriers, geographic barriers,\u201d Jones said.<\/p>\n
The merger between the two nonprofit organizations came about after the Berks Community Health Center\u2019s board contacted Union in the spring. The boards created a task force and completed a due diligence process, looking at factors including mission alignment, organizational culture, operations and governance, and financial performance.<\/p>\n
\u201cAcross Pennsylvania and throughout the country, community health centers are facing unique challenges in this healthcare environment because there is more demand for affordable, high-quality care than there is supply,\u201d Jones said. \u201cSo, these conditions are creating new opportunities for mission-aligned organizations to work together to strengthen community health for the future.\u201d<\/p>\n
A representative for Berks Community Health Center said Union’s mission was a great fit when the center was looking for a partner.<\/p>\n
“There had to be a shared sense of mission and purpose, and what that means is … that the quality of care could not be diminished; it needed to be enhanced and that we could help even more people from a services perspective,” said Missy Orlando, vice chair of the Berks Community Health Center board. “The second piece was that from a financial standpoint, what we recognized … was that there’s a real strength in us coming together as partners.”<\/p>\n