By Anne Levin

Capital Health Systems will open a primary care facility early next year at 300 Witherspoon Street, the former headquarters of The Princeton Packet newspaper. The new clinic, which will have four to six family and internal medicine doctors available five days a week, was announced Monday evening at a meeting of Princeton Council.

Primary Care at Princeton will also offer evening hours twice weekly, and same-day appointments, said Councilwoman Michelle Pirone Lambros, who has been involved in the negotiations with Capital Health and the property owner, Helena May. The Packet moved out of the building three years ago.

“They expressed to us that, in the past seven or eight years, they were looking for a place in a central location in Princeton, with good parking,” Lambros said of Capital Health. “Ironically, we’ve been looking for them as a solution to [not having] a walkable clinic since Princeton Hospital closed and moved to Plainsboro.”

Lambros said the town is working with Capital Health to offer pre-natal care, well-baby care, and wellness care for adults who are uninsured or under-insured. The arrangement also connects clients with physicians at Capital Health’s main facility in Hopewell, and will offer transport there if needed.

Having family practice physicians so accessible to residents is “fantastic,” said Princeton Health Officer Jeffrey Grosser on Tuesday. “Family medicine physicians are, in our mind, vital to the community,” he said. “You can’t argue with the ability to walk to the doctor. There was a bus line and there is taxi service to the hospital in Plainsboro, but being able to get seen quickly is sometimes important for families. What we’re hoping is that they’ll be able to serve our population in a way that is more effective, because people won’t have to leave town.”

Lambros said Tuesday that she had reached out to different landlords in the Witherspoon-Jackson area to see if there was space available for a clinic. “We were calling it urgent care at the time,” she said. “Then, this just kind of came together. I was introduced through the [real estate] agent Rich Gittleman to Helena May, and we met about six months ago. She was talking at that time about how she was
going to put medical offices in the building. So when they came up, it seemed like a perfect fit.”

The match was made after discussions with Capital Health about needs in the community. “We have an underserved community and so many people who don’t have insurance,” Lambros said. “Having primary care, internal medicine doctors with extended hours should be able to serve it well. They are trying to put in a bilingual physician, and should have someone who is bilingual at the front office.”

Grosser, who has repeatedly voiced the need for a local clinic, said that, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, a number of children have fallen behind on vaccination schedules. Having localized care will help with that kind of situation.

At Monday’s meeting, Councilwoman Leticia Fraga thanked Grosser, Lambros, and Melissa Urias of the Human Services Department for their efforts. “This is something we have long advocated for, and we need it in our community,” she said. “Having care close by will greatly improve the quality of life for many of our residents.”