Edgewater Health celebrated the opening of a clinic in Merrillville with a ribbon cutting and open house.
Dr. Chiedu Nchekwube will lead the practice with Laresse Harris.
“Edgewater Health is gearing up to celebrate 50 years of health care excellence in 2024,” said Dr. Danita Johnson, president and CEO of Edgewater Health. “Opening our new family medicine and integrative medicine clinic here in Merrillville, on the threshold of that accomplishment, is a significant milestone.”
Edgewater Health board members, elected officials, community leaders, and representatives from the Crossroads Regional Chamber of Commerce, including President and CEO Deann Patena, attended the ceremony.
Jose Lupe Valtierra, Edgewater Health’s board chair, said the milestone is significant, especially because the health provider started in behavioral care services and has grown into a family medicine location in Cedar Lake in 2022, along with the Merrillville clinic.
“I am proud to play a role in an organization that can boast 50 years of steady growth and give-back to the community,” he said.
Edgewater Health started in 1974 as the Gary Community Mental Health Center. In 2015, it established the Rapid Access Center, and in 2019, it earned Federally Qualified Health Center Look-Alike status under the Health Resources & Services Administration. It is accredited by The Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities.
The clinic in Cedar Lake offers primary care that focuses on women. The new location is at 5495 Broadway in Merrillville.
Caption: (From left) Deann Patena, Jerome Ezell, Bernard Carter, Laresse Harris, Richard Hardaway, Deanna Prince, Sen. Lonnie Randolph, Dr. Danita Johnson, Dr. Chiedu Nchekwube, Carol Cody, Tracy Williams, Jose Valtierra, Colleen Ramquist, Larry Brewer, Michael Griffin and Reggie
Robinson celebrate a ribbon cutting of Edgewater Health's Merrillville location. (Provided by Edgewater Health)
