After more than three years of planning, the doors of a community health clinic opened to residents of Durham's Walltown neighborhood Monday.
After more than three years of planning, the doors of a community health clinic opened to residents of Durham’s Walltown neighborhood Monday.
At a ceremony that trumpeted Duke’s recently intensified commitment to community health as well as the advocacy of Walltown residents, several town and University leaders spoke about the need for health care that serves financially disadvantaged populations.
Plans for the Walltown Neighborhood Clinic began when leaders from the neighborhood, which is a block from East Campus, approached Duke about creating a health center in Walltown, where about half of the residents do not have health insurance. Working with Duke through the Neighborhood Partnership Initiative and the Division of Community Health, local activists championed the project, which was initially thwarted by a lack of funds.
“We believe in miracles and we say ‘thank you’ to Duke for seeing the need and making this miracle happen,” said Rev. Mel Williams, a member of the Walltown Neighborhood Ministries and one of the clinic’s original proponents.
The Duke Endowment, which is not affiliated with the University, gave a $240,000 donation in early January to help launch the clinic. The grant will also partially finance an expansion at a similar clinic Duke helps operate in Lyon Park.
John Burness, senior vice president for public affairs and government relations, said the Endowment donation “really saved” the project.
The clinic features five examination rooms and a small laboratory for limited on-site tests. Named for Walltown founder George Wall, the clinic is a satellite of the Lincoln Community Health Center.
Kaitlyn Granda, a physicians’ assistant who will work at the Walltown clinic, said the majority of patients are expected to have no health insurance. Patients will pay on a sliding scale, just as they do at LCHC. Any procedures that the clinic is not equipped to handle will be referred to LCHC.
“[Patients] can establish relationships with these folks so that they’re not going into the emergency room for community care,” Granda said.
Chancellor for Health Affairs Dr. Victor Dzau, who has repeatedly underscored the importance of Duke’s role in enhancing local health care, emphasized the community’s involvement with the Walltown clinic. “We do not go around planting clinics like Johnny Appletree,” said Dzau, also president and CEO of Duke University Health System. “A community health center must emerge from the needs of the community, not from someone else’s social engineering.”
As part of the health initiatives, Planned Parenthood will help establish community education programs in the neighborhood. Educational initiatives will address issues such as self-esteem, safety and risk-taking behaviors as well as physical health issues.
“When health care can be made part of everyday life in the neighborhood, then progress has been made,” President Richard Brodhead said.
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