Plans are under way to address the growing Hispanic
patient population at the Community Health Center of North Fulton,
which has more than quadrupled in the past nine years. Leading the
effort is Rachel Schonberger, assistant professor and director of
community medicine at Grady Hospital.
Schonberger is working with officials at Grady Health System, which
oversees the Roswell-based clinic, to relocate the present clinic
to a larger facility, either by remodeling an existing building
or establishing a new site as early as 2004. Once a new clinic is
open, the facility should adequately serve the health care needs
of the north Fulton community, with plans to triple clinic space
with more exam rooms, patient education, medical records and conference
space.
In a very limited space, the clinic now provides comprehensive primary
care for pediatric, obstetric and adult patients, and houses a pharmacy,
nursing station, financial counseling office, X-ray and ultrasound
rooms, and medical lab, all on one site. Last year the clinic saw
17,437 patients, up from just 3,000 in 1993.
Schonberger said the growth of the Hispanic community and good medical
care are the primary reasons the clinic has grown. She also noted
that Grady has a long history of responding to the medical needs
of the north Fulton community, which began in 1976 when the clinic
first opened.
“We start with preventive care—from the cradle to the
grave,” Schonberger said. “This clinic is an enormous
resource for this part of the county, especially since we have a
lot of working, uninsured people here.”
The clinic, also known by community residents as Clinica de la Piedra,
or the “Stone Clinic,” serves a growing number of Hispanic
patients, the majority of whom deliver babies at Grady. Although
85 percent of its patients are Hispanic, the clinic also sees a
large number of Asians, Haitians and Africans. Because of the high
quality of care, patients with insurance come from as far away as
Suwanee, Cumming and other communities outside of Fulton and DeKalb
counties.
Due to the large foreign patient population, many of the staff at
the Community Center of North Fulton are bilingual; there are two
registered interpreters, a French-speaking obstetrical nurse practitioner
and a chief pediatric nurse who is a registered language interpreter.
Ann Hoos-Young, assistant professor of family, community and preventive
medicine and medical director of the north Fulton clinic, said although
the clinical space is confined, her patients are grateful for the
excellent medical care they receive.
“Our patients feel well cared for here,” Hoos-Young
said. “They come because of word of mouth—people tell
their friends about us.”
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