MUST Ministries Opens the MUST Care Clinic
MUST partners with Eastchester Family Services to open clinic
Georgia faces one of the highest uninsured rates in the nation – more than 1.2 million residents, including 171,000 children, lack access to health coverage. In neighborhoods throughout metro Atlanta, everyone from children to senior citizens face significant barriers to care, higher rates of chronic disease, and shorter life expectancies. With few affordable healthcare options, many turn to overcrowded emergency rooms for basic medical needs, deepening cycles of poverty, instability and homelessness – particularly among children and working families.
The MUST Care Clinic – in partnership with Eastchester Family Services as its medical provider – aims to provide a solution to the problematic correlation between poverty and poor health. By offering primary and behavioral healthcare services on a sliding fee scale based on family size and income – including group and individual counseling, women’s gynecological services, pediatric services, nutritional counseling, wellness coaching and onsite laboratory testing – the MUST Care Clinic hopes to build a healthier future for our community.
“At MUST Ministries, we believe everyone should be treated with dignity and respect, and that includes being able to access the care they need to heal,” said MUST President & CEO Dr. Ike Reighard.
On Oct. 23, nearly 200 community leaders gathered to celebrate the ribbon-cutting of the MUST Care Clinic. Speakers included Reighard; MUST COO Angela Phelps; MUST Board of Directors Chairman and Division President, Atlanta for SouthState Bank Terry DeWitt; MUST Care Clinic Project Manager and President of The Landon Group Don Hausfeld; Wellstar AVP Community Health and Center for Health Equity Eliese Lockamy-Kassim; Eastchester Family Services CEO Milton Brown; and Cobb Chamber President and CEO Sharon Mason.
The clinic opened on Oct. 1 and, in its first 10 days of operation, had already served 65 patients.
The clinic is currently open Monday through Wednesday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and is located at 1260 Cobb Pkwy N, Marietta, GA 30062. Private insurance is accepted, as well as Medicare and Medicaid, but insurance is not required to receive services. No one will be denied access to services due to the inability to pay.
ABOUT MUST: MUST Ministries is celebrating 54 years of serving those in poverty. MUST meets the needs of more than 55,000 people a year through food, housing, healthcare, workforce development, clothing and other programs.
Press release provided by MUST Ministries.
