Photo if the WNCCHS Dental Team posing and smiling as a group on stairs.

About

Western North Carolina Community Health Services (WNCCHS) is a Community Health Center / Federally Qualified Health Center that offers primary care, behavioral health, and dental services, discounted pharmacy services, and a sliding fee program for insured and uninsured patients. We are a private nonprofit serving Western North Carolina.

Community Health Centers

A blue icon showing a stick figure leading another stick figure up a hill and carrying a flag.

Patient Governed

FQHCs must maintain a patient-majority Board of Directors that reflects the people we serve — ensuring that our organization and the care we provide are directly impacted by real patients and members of our community.

A blue icon of a line drawing of a hand holding a stack of coins with a plant growing out of the top.

Affordable

FQHCs can never turn away patients based on their ability to pay. WNCCHS accepts many major insurance plans, including Medicaid and Medicare. We also offer pricing discounts and sliding scale discounts that are based on a patient’s family size and income. 

A blue icon of a line drawing of three people standing together in front of a rainbow.

Necessary

FQHCs remove common barriers to care by serving communities whose residents have historically experienced financial, geographic, or cultural barriers to receiving care. FQHCs must operate in a federally designated “medically underserved” location.

A blue icon of a line drawing of an umbrella behind the cross health symbol

Integrating Care

FQHCs provide patients with a health care home that integrates high quality medical, dental, behavioral health, pharmacy, and enabling services.

Tri-Fold Brochure

Click the links below to open a low-res digital PDF version of our tri-fold brochure in English, Spanish, or Russian.

To request physical copies of our brochure or rack cards for our locations and/or individual services — please contact our Marketing Director at mgriffin@wncchs.org.

Image showing the front of the WNCCHS general information trifold, which says "Committed to every patient, with or without insurance," and it pictures a happy Hispanic couple carrying their children.
Download | English
Download | English
Download | Spanish
Download | Spanish
Download | Russian
Download | Russian

Mission

To provide high-quality and life-enriching whole person health care.

Vision

A healthy, thriving Western North Carolina.

Values

  • Compassion

  • Diversity

  • Quality

  • Integrity

  • Teamwork

History

  • Photo of the Kenilworth Church building, which is a red brick building with a white double door.

    In 1993, a group of community activists led by Carlos Gomez, Minnie Jones, and Dr. Polly Ross formed a non-governmental organization that began providing HIV medical care to patients at the Kenilworth Presbyterian Church.

  • Photo of the outside of the Ridgelawn Clinic building, which is a long, cream-colored, two-story building.

    ​In the following years, WNCCHS acquired additional federal funding and became a health center that provides services to the general community.

    In 1996, WNCCHS-Minnie Jones Family Health Center opened in the Pisgah View Apartments, Buncombe County's largest public housing development. In 1998, WNCCHS inaugurated the Ridgelawn Clinic in West Asheville.

  • Photo of the Blue Ridge Mountains skyline during golden hour.

    WNCCHS obtained designation as a Federally Qualified Health Center Look-Alike in 2002, and then as a Federally Qualified Health Center in 2007.

    In 2010, Buncombe County asked WNCCHS to provide comprehensive primary health and oral health care to low-income residents. 

  • Photo of the outside of Minnie Jones Health Center, which includes a brick buildings and blue sign with the name of the building.

    In 2010, WNCCHS moved WNCCHS—Minnie Jones Health Center to 257 Biltmore Avenue, Asheville, NC. Today, WNCCHS provides services to 13,000 patients in Western North Carolina and employs over 240 staff members.

  • A photo of the outside of WNCCHS McDowell Health Center at ABCCM. The building is a long, bright blue building.

    In May 2022, WNCCHS opened the Hominy Valley Health Center in Candler, NC, in partnership with Asheville Buncombe Community Christian Ministry (ABCCM).

  • A photo of three people cutting a red ribbon outside of WNCCHS McDowell Health Center. Red and blue balloons hang overhead.

    In April 2023, WNCCHS opened the only Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) in McDowell County: WNCCHS—McDowell Health Center. School-based behavioral health services were also launched at East McDowell Middle School and West McDowell Middle School.

  • A photo of a WNCCHS employee standing at a computer in the WNCCHS McDowell Health Center Pharmacy. He is standing in front of rows of medicines.

    In Jan. 2025, WNCCHS completed a major expansion at McDowell Health Center. This expansion includes a new pharmacy that will allow patients to conveniently fill prescriptions on-site -- as well as new offices for behavioral health and care management services, which will allow WNCCHS to provide more comprehensive care under one roof.