New King Center received $20 million through governor’s Healthcare Infrastructure Capital Grant Program to expand access to healthcare statewide.

RACINE — Gov. Tony Evers on Oct 30th, visited Racine to celebrate the groundbreaking of the new Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center and Health Center (King Center) in the Lincoln-King neighborhood. Photos of today’s groundbreaking event are available here and here.

In 2022, the city of Racine received a $20 million grant through the governor’s Healthcare Infrastructure Capital Grant Program, which was created by Gov. Evers using federal pandemic relief funds Wisconsin received under the Biden-Harris Administration’s American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), to support the development of a new community health center in Racine. The new King Center will include a new Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) that will provide integrated medical, dental, and behavioral healthcare to low-income folks and families, including those who are uninsured or underinsured.

“Whether it’s finding transportation, cultural or language barriers, taking off of work, or finding care for kids—we know these issues can often be insurmountable obstacles in accessing healthcare,” said Gov. Evers. “This new center is going to break down those barriers for folks and families in Racine and meet them where they are with care they can afford. This new facility is going to help address disparate health outcomes that hold families back, support local jobs and opportunities for growth, and chart a healthier, brighter future forward for Racine, and as a state, we are so glad for the opportunity to be a part of it.”

The King Center will bridge an important gap in healthcare coverage in Racine, providing high-quality care within the community and close to home for low-income families, as well as bilingual care to better serve Racine’s Hispanic and Latino families while keeping jobs in the area and helping to attract and retain new medical professionals. Expected to open in 2026, the center is also slated to become Racine’s first net-zero building.

To date, more than $100 million in grant investments have been awarded to support over 25 healthcare infrastructure projects statewide to address healthcare access needs in communities across the state through the governor’s Healthcare Infrastructure Capital Grant Program. In addition to the new King Center, other projects funded by the Healthcare Infrastructure Capital Grant Program include $20 million for a partial hospital replacement at Marshfield Clinic in Park Falls, $6 million for constructing a new clinic in Elroy, which opened in January, more than $4 million to support expanding access to quality healthcare services in Janesville and Edgerton, $158,000 to expand mental health services in rural Ripon, and $7.9 million for capital improvement projects in Appleton, among others. A complete list of Healthcare Infrastructure Capital Grant Program recipients can be found here.

This also comes as, earlier this month, Gov. Evers announced $50 million for 50 projects in communities across Wisconsin funded through the state’s new Non-State Grant Program, of which more than $15 million was awarded to expand medical, emergency, dental, and mental health services in local and Tribal communities across the state, including $1.5 million for the Tamarack Health Hayward Medical Center in Hayward, $1.2 million for the Sokaogon Chippewa Community, Mole Lake Band of Lake Superior Chippewa’s new health clinic, and $700,000 for Western Wisconsin Health for their Saving Rural Obstetrics Program in St. Croix County. A full list of projects funded by the new Non-State Grant Program is available here.