Print Issue: October 17, 2002

Saint Joseph's Mercy Care Services Opens New Headquarters And Clinic

ATLANTA - After 20 years of renting a facility, Saint Joseph's Mercy Care Services, which provides primary health care, education and social services to Atlanta's new immigrants, the homeless, uninsured and underinsured, opened the doors to a multi-million-dollar headquarters and primary care clinic on Sept. 23.

During a dedication attended by approximately 200 people, including donors, community leaders, Catholic, Baptist, African-Methodist-Episcopal and Presbyterian religious leaders, and Saint Joseph's employees, Dr. Adewale Troutman, director of the Fulton County Board of Health, discussed the importance of the work of Saint Joseph's Mercy Care Services.

"What is more basic to life than health?" Troutman asked the crowd. "In a time when the number of people without health care insurance is at least 45 million and another 20 to 30 million are underinsured, a lot of work and service needs to be done."

Mercy Clinic's downtown location at 424 Decatur St., is in close proximity to many of Mercy Care Services' clients, which will enable physicians and staff to better serve homeless and uninsured persons who count on them for primary health care.

"This facility is a commitment to treat each person who enters here with dignity and the respect that a neighbor deserves," said Mercy Care Services President Paul Bolster.

"We owe this day to giving people and foundations who donated the funds to make this a reality," Bolster said. "We no longer pay rent, and we don't have a monthly mortgage payment. This building enables us to use our funds for providing needed services to the community."

To renovate and expand an existing warehouse on Decatur Street across from MARTA's King Memorial Station, $4 million was raised by Saint Joseph's Mercy Foundation. Atlanta foundations, such as the Robert W. Woodruff Foundation, pledged more than $3 million; corporations contributed more than $110,000; WINGS (Workers Involved in New Growth for Saint Joseph's) pledged $250,000; and charitable individuals donated nearly $376,000 to the campaign.

Inside the 26,000-square-foot-building is the Ryan White early intervention clinic and dental service and the primary-care clinic which provides preventive care and treatment of chronic diseases such as hypertension, asthma and diabetes, regardless of a person's ability to pay for those services and medications. Other Mercy Care Services' programs that use the new facility for a home base and supply and medical records storage include:

• mobile health care clinics;
• HIV/AIDS outreach team;
• Community Homeless Outreach program that helps street-bound, hard-core homeless access community resources;
• Hispanic health promotion and disease prevention;
• breast and cervical cancer education, early detection and treatment;
• resource specialists who while in the field help those in need gain access to existing social services programs.

Established in 1984 by Saint Joseph's Hospital nurses and physicians who volunteered their time out of concern for the unmet medical needs of the poor in Atlanta, Mercy Care Services has experienced phenomenal growth. Last year, 17,000 people relied on Mercy Care Services for primary health care. In addition, Mercy Care's programs provided 3,500 screenings, 7,000 HIV testing and counseling sessions, and many health and disease prevention classes. At the downtown facility, Mercy Care Services anticipates a minimum of 5,000 primary care visits.

"The building itself is a statement of community commitment and close collaboration between strong partners," Bolster said. "Everyone rallied together for the sake of Mercy Care Services."