A new 52,000-square-foot health center run by Urban Health Plan is on track to open at 1095 Southern Boulevard in Longwood, according to city and health officials. The four-story facility will emphasize specialty care and is designed to bring subspecialty clinics into the neighborhood so patients do not have to travel as far. Urban Health Plan says the building will plug directly into its existing network of Bronx-area clinics.
The center is expected to open in May, according to News12 Bronx. “We have an existing practice, and this will allow us to expand and provide more services right in the community,” Paloma Hernandez, president and CEO of Urban Health Plan, told the outlet. News12 reported that the new site will concentrate on specialty services that local patients often struggle to access.
Urban Health Plan describes the Plaza San Juan Community Health Center as a state-of-the-art, multi-floor clinic with 36 exam rooms, an on-site laboratory and dedicated rooms for subspecialty clinics, as detailed by Urban Health Plan. The organization lists specialty offerings including cardiology, gastroenterology, neurology, nephrology and pulmonology, along with nutrition and case-management services. UHP leaders say the building is intended to shorten wait times and cluster services that often require Bronx patients to travel across the borough.
From Fire-Scarred Lot To Modern Clinic
The center sits on a parcel that was ravaged by a 2008 blaze that destroyed a dry cleaner and neighboring storefronts, a 2013 report recounted. DNAinfo documented the fire, and later state testing found contaminated soil that delayed redevelopment, the Hunts Point Express reported. Cleanup and brownfield remediation were cited as major hurdles before construction could move forward.
Funding And Local Capacity
City, state and health-department capital dollars helped finance the project, and Urban Health Plan credited Councilmember Rafael Salamanca with directing roughly $20.3 million toward the center, according to Urban Health Plan. The system serves more than 90,000 patients annually across the Bronx, Central Harlem and Corona, Paloma Hernandez noted in a City & State commentary earlier this year. Local officials say the center will create jobs and add specialty capacity in a neighborhood still rebuilding after the 2008 fire.
The timeline for opening has shifted since construction wrapped. UHP hosted a walkthrough for community members in June 2025 and had previously signaled a late-2025 launch, but local reporting on April 21, 2026 now points to a May opening. City and UHP representatives say the extra time was used for remediation and for outfitting the clinic with updated equipment, and they expect to publish appointment and referral details as the launch approaches.
