Norwich - As another day of medical check-ups, dental cleanings, gynecological visits and other health services began in the former grocery store building at 47 Town St., United Community & Family Services' administrators, staff and supporters took time out Wednesday morning to celebrate the center's accomplishments and reflect on challenges.

The breakfast meeting and program was part of UCFS' activities marking National Health Center Week. Chuck Seeman, president and chief executive officer of UCFS, which recently renamed its clinic in honor of benefactors Edward & Mary Lord, told the UCFS story in numbers.

From its founding in 2000 to fiscal 2011, he said, its annual budget rose from $7.7 million to $19.5 million. Patient visits have climbed from 53,710 in 2008 (the figure for 2000 was not provided) to 76,246 in fiscal 2011, and is projected to grow to 88,587 by the time the current fiscal year closes.

"In this economy, we're seeing more people, the middle class, coming here who never came to UCFS before," said Pamela Allen Kindler, vice president of marketing and facilities, as she led a tour of a multimillion-dollar expansion and renovation project under way to enable clinic facilities to match the growing demand. "We just need more space to accommodate the need."

Even as demand has increased, though, the number of staff has grown only slightly, Seeman said, from 309 in 2008 to 317 currently, as funding has not increased to match patient load.

"We have a lot less overhead, a lot less support staff" per patient, he said.

UCFS has kept itself in the black through lean economic times, he said, by reducing its dependence on grants that can disappear from one year to the next to fee-for-service work it provides at its adult day care center and other programs. In 2009, fees supported 46 percent of the budget; now that figure is 60 percent.

"That's why we've weathered the storm and been successful," he said.

UCFS marked three milestones over the past year, receiving its largest private contribution ever from the Lords' bequest, and $3.4 million in state bond funds. Both are being used for the renovations and expansion.

The third milestone was the addition of gynecological services in response to what Seeman called a community crisis after the loss of one of the city's two main providers of women's care. UCFS' two gynecologists now care for 1,400 gynecological patients. The clinic hopes to add obstetrics care in the future, Seeman said, but needs to become a "federally qualified" health center to be covered by federal malpractice insurance that is more affordable than what is otherwise available. UCFS is currently known as a "federal look-alike" health center, but will continue efforts to be reclassified, he said.

"We provide the same services, and have the same requirements," Seeman said. "I'd call it almost a caste system."

Obtaining the "federally qualified" status is also essential to another goal of bringing in specialists on a part-time basis to care for Medicaid patients. Currently, few specialists see Medicaid patients because of low reimbursement rates, forcing these patients to travel to the University of Connecticut Health Center in Farmington or Yale-New Haven Hospital for care.

National Health Center Week is celebrated annually by the National Association of Community Health Centers to highlight the contributions of the nation's 8,000 clinics that serve about 23 million mainly low-income people nationwide. Patients are mainly those covered by Medicaid or Medicare, or are uninsured .

Kindler said UCFS has been celebrating the week with children's events including a coloring contest and programs about nutrition and bicycle safety. The week began with a pancake breakfast for staff and will conclude with a staff picnic Friday.

For information, visit: www.ucfs.org.

j.benson@theday.com