The New Bern Board of Aldermen approved plans Tuesday to construct a health near downtown. Years in the making, the goal is to address disparities and improve access to care in the historically Black Greater Duffyfield Area.
The idea to have some form of health service in theDuffyfield area has been around for a decade, making appearances in several city reports. Now things appear on track for the new location at 727 Third Street. Zeb Hough is chair of the commission, which has spearheaded the project.
"I've spoken with citizens on the phone about the clinic, I've spoken at the gas station, over coffee, at the church, and in my front yard. The community is engaged, and what that says to me is perhaps the time is now," Zeb Hough, executive director of the Redevelopment Commission said.
Members of the Redevelopment Commission presented a proposal earlier this month for a health and wellness center at 727 Third St., a city-owned plot. Located between the new and old Stanley White Recreation Center, the Redevelopment Commission has been in talks with CarolinaEast Health Systems to build and operate a clinic in the Duffyfield Area. Hough said the proposed clinic has been 20 years in the making.
"To say that we have been talking this for a while, would be an understatement," Hough said, citing the city's 2014 Gateway Renaissance Plan, 2016 Choice Neighborhood Initiative Greater Five Point Transformation Plan, and 2020 Redevelopment Plan. Each of those reports identified barriers to healthcare for residents in the area and advocated for a long-term healthcare resource.
A representative of CarolinaEast said the clinic will serve as a convenient care facility that provides walk-in, same-day care that is not life-threatening.
The Board Tuesday approved a transfer of the property to CarolinaEast, as well as reallocating $313,000 from the Commission to CarolinaEast for building a clinic.
"The convenient care is not urgent care," Judy Pierce, director of mission effectiveness at CarolinaEast, said. "Like all CarolinaEast primary care locations, narcotics will not be available on the property."
This is not the first attempt by the Commission to bring a clinic to just outside of Downtown. Last year, the Redevelopment Commission proposed a site just a few street over on Bloomfield, but it peetered out due to community opposition over the location. In its pitch last year, the Redevelopment Commission cited a third of residents in the Greater Duffyfield Area rely on the emergency room as their primary source for healthcare.
Now with plans moving ahead for the Third St. site, residents can expect to receive cheaper care and have access to a nearby facility for check-ups and routine care.
The lots right now are vacant, but once a building is built, CarolinaEast Health Systems will operate a clinic there for a minimum of five years, as part of the land transfer agreement.
