With the cut of a ribbon, access to healthcare was made easier for thousands of Wareham' residents Tuesday afternoon.

In anticipation of its official opening on Wednesday, Sept. 2., the Greater New Bedford Community Health Center held its ribbon cutting ceremony Tuesday.

The center is a private, nonprofit healthcare provider, funded by a $1.4 million grant for the first two years of its operation. Health Center CEO Peter Georgeopoulos said the rest of the operation is dependent on patient billing, through Medicare and Medicaid.

“There are grants that are available,” Georgeopoulos said. “We get by, we squeeze by.”

Georgeopoulos said the center, located in the old Browne’s Liquors building at 127 Marion Road, will provide primary care for all ages. He said the center will not just serve the homeless and underserved population.

“Anybody who comes in for services – we will see any and all,” Georgeopoulos said. “We don’t look at their ability to pay or not as an indicator. We look at them as needing services.”

The center, staffed by 20 people, including one doctor and two nurse practitioners, has 12 adult exam rooms and four pediatric exam rooms.

“We have nurses, lab techs … [and] a full-service laboratory,” Georgeopoulos said.

Georgeopoulos said he expects 11,000 visits to the center before the end of 2015.

“I expect this to fly, because the people really are in need,” Georgeopoulos said. “I think the people are underserved, and really need it.”

James W. Hunt, Jr., CEO of the Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers, sang the praises of community health centers, which he said were spearheaded in Massachusetts 50 years ago by Sen. Ted Kennedy.

“It was at the early days of the start of health centers on the South Coast and Cape Cod, of which [there were] three,” Hunt said. “Today, we have about 15 practice sites and still growing.”

U.S. Rep. Bill Keating also spoke in support of the center, saying “it is addressing one of the most basic needs, and one of the scarcest resources we have in the health care system, and that’s the need for primary care.”

“If you are trying to get a physician, and you don’t have one at the time, and you are looking for your first appointment, it could be months away,” Keating said. “It doesn’t work that way in real life.”

Keating said he has used community health care centers himself, and said the center’s opening will make life easier for Wareham’s residents who need affordable health care.

“The people in the Wareham area … were traveling to New Bedford for these services,” Keating said. “This will provide those services right here in Wareham, making it accessible, making it easier so you’re not losing time at work.”