Families First Brings Primary Care Option to Seabrook

At the official opening of Families First Health & Support Center’s satellite office in Seabrook on Wednesday June 14, the ribbon was cut by Exeter Hospital President and CEO Kevin Callahan and Helen Taft and Eric Samuel of Families First. They were joined by NH State Senator Dan Innis, Seabrook town manager Bill Manzi, and Seabrook Board of Selectmen members Aboul Khan, Ella Brown and Theresa Kyle. Photo: Families First

Families First Health & Support Center, a community health center based in Portsmouth, have opened a new satellite office at 146 Lafayette Road in Seabrook. The new office will serve 450 Seabrook residents who have been patients at Families First in Portsmouth, while expanding access to care for other Seabrook-area residents who may have lacked primary care provider. Before this office opened, there were no primary care practices in Seabrook.

Eric Samuel, medical director at Families First, says the patients he sees in Seabrook “are very happy with this change and this increase in access to care...This is a big opportunity for patients and a big accomplishment for those who have been involved in getting it together.”

Exeter Hospital donated $75,000 to outfit Families First’s office, which is co-located in the Southern NH Services building in Seabrook along with Rockingham Community Action, which provides services like Head Start, the WIC nutrition program, a food pantry and fuel assistance. The hospital also committed $50,000 per year over three years to launch and operate the site.

"We are very proud to partner and collaborate, and we think this is just terrific for the community,” says Kevin Callahan, president and CEO of Exeter Hospital.  Donnalee Lozeau, executive director of Southern NH Services, adds "What Families First brings to the table really makes this a comprehensive place for services. We shouldn’t, nor could we, provide all the services that are necessary, and so the way to do that is to partner to bring those services.”

The Seabrook town government has provided financial support for Families First annually since 2005. “Both Families First and Southern New Hampshire Services do wonderful work for our residents,” says Bill Manzi, Seabrook's town manager.

As part of establishing a presence in Seabrook, Families First has also joined the Hampton Area Chamber of Commerce. “The Chamber welcomes Families First, and their Health and Support Center to the Chamber and wishes them great success in their new location in Seabrook," says Doc Noel, president of the chamber. 

In addition to primary care, Families First also provides care coordination and insurance enrollment services at the Seabrook location. Within the next few months, Families First will add dental care and family programs there. A mobile dental team will visit the Seabrook building parking lot once a week to provide dental care from a dental van belonging to St. Vincent de Paul center in Exeter. Major funding from Portsmouth Regional Hospital, supplemented by grants from the NH Charitable Foundation and a donation from the Hampton Free Clinic, will underwrite the cost of providing services.

Also in Seabrook, Families First provides a school-based dental program, funded in part by The Provident Bank, and home visiting, funded by the State of NH. The family programs launched in the spring at Seabrook Elementary School and will continue this summer in the Southern NH Services building. Funding comes from United Way of the Greater Seacoast, the HNH Foundation and WellSense.