ABOUT US: The History of Spectrum Health Services

Spectrum Health Services, Inc. (SHS) is a nonprofit community health agency whose mission is to provide comprehensive primary care health services, health education and social services to low income Philadelphians. Organized in 1967, during the first seventeen years of its existence, SHS provided family planning services under the banner Better Family Planning, Inc. In 1984, Spectrum Health Services’ Haddington Health Center commenced delivery of primary care health services having received designation as a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The agency’s name was subsequently changed from Better Family Planning to Spectrum Health Services to reflect its new mission.

From 1984 to 1988, the number of patients served at the Haddington Health Center grew dramatically. In addition to family planning, new services offered included prenatal, pediatric, and adult health care. Key support services included social services, nutrition supplements via the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program. In 1988 prenatal case management and home visiting services were implemented. With the exception of the WIC program, the Haddington Health Center currently offers these services including HIV-related services and dental service program for low income, uninsured adolescents and pregnant women. Continuity of care, is provided for through relationships with Children’s Hospital, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Mercy Hospital, and Pennsylvania Hospital.

At the Broad Street Health Center (BSHC), SHS continued to provide family planning services through October 1994. In November 1994, the BSHC began service delivery as a comprehensive primary care facility offering services similar to those services offered at the Haddington Health Center. The expanded and relocated BSHC continues to offer a full range of primary care services with continuity of care provided for through relationships with Temple University Children’s Medical Center, St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children, and Pennsylvania Hospital

In April 1991, SHS established the first school based health program in a Philadelphia middle school. The school-based program was called the Sulzberger Personal
Examination Center (SPEC), which included such primary health care services as physical examinations, immunizations, and treatment of acute conditions to registered students who attend the Mayer Sulzberger Middle School in West Philadelphia. SPEC differs from the majority of local school-based health programs in its emphasis on meeting the psychosocial needs of students. The funding for this program ended April 2000.