SSM Health and GreaterHealth Pharmacy & Wellness are working to reduce the healthcare gap in underserved communities by bringing an Express Clinic to the Delmar Divine community.
“We have partnered with SSM Health Express Clinic to become a healthcare destination that offers radically inclusive, culturally responsive care for our community members,” according to Marcus Howard, Greater Health founder and CEO.
“This partnership is for the sole purpose of revolutionizing the way we approach, talk about, and treat health care for historically underserved communities.
“Our goal is to provide exceptional healthcare to every community and follow the example of our founding sisters in expanding care to areas that have been underrepresented and underserved,” says Jeremy Fotheringham, SSM Academic & St. Louis Regional President.
“We believe this Express Clinic will be a community resource going forward and will help the community have better and more timely access to excellent health care services.”
Located at 5503 Delmar Boulevard in Suite B, the Express Clinic will be the first clinic from SSM Health that serves the DeBaliviere, Skinker, and surrounding neighborhoods in the Historic West End.
Located in the former St. Luke’s hospital, the Express Clinic is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., and is closed on Sundays.
“Improving the health and the lives of those we serve has always been at the forefront of the work that we do at SSM Health,” Lauren Knight, director of advanced practice provider of Urgent Care and Express Clinic, said.
“In the city of St. Louis, there are some geographical areas that have limited access to healthcare, lack access to primary care, express care, or convenient care in urgent care services, and one of those areas is north of Delmar or the West End.”
According to Knight, Maxine Clarke, Chief Inspirator for The Delmar DivINe, invited the clinic team to learn about the Delmar Divine, the vision for their facility and its role in providing resources and revitalizing the Delmar community last April.
“It was very clear that the neighborhood needed and wanted more healthcare options for its residents, and so we knew immediately that we wanted to participate and bring an SSM Health Clinic to that,” she said. “Our partnership provides patient convenience and community education so patients can complete a visit and then they can fill their prescription right there in the same location.”
The partnership with GreaterHealth Pharmacy & Wellness makes this the first clinic that aligns itself with providing inclusive and culturally responsive care for people who do not have access to commercial pharmacies.
“In the area right now, there are some other healthcare facilities, but what the residents of the West End neighborhood and the Delmar neighborhood asked for were more options,” Knight said. “There is access to emergency care, but the residents were asking for a convenient option for if they’re having a non-emergent health issue and don’t have an appointment, or they can’t get one with their primary care provider and they just need someone to see them same day.”
Knight went on to talk about the goals in place for the new clinic.
“Our first goal is to get to know the residents and the people of the community, so those who live and work and play in the Delmar community,” Knight said. Another goal we have is to help decrease health disparities in the neighborhood.”
The clinic provides education about preventative health measures, chronic disease management, and help with establishing care with a primary care provider or a specialist.
“We want to really empower our patients and the residents of the Delmar neighborhood to be involved in their care and provide a safe space for them to seek care and ask questions that they may not have been able to ask or been reluctant to ask in the past,” she said.
GreaterHealth Pharmacy & Wellness will celebrate its grand opening on February 28, 2023, with fully operational COVID testing and a nurse practitioner provided by SSM Health.
“This is a really special clinic,” Knight said.
“From being a nurse practitioner myself, it’s so great that the residents have a clinic that they can walk to, bike to, jump on public transit and have access to with a pharmacy right there in their community complete with providers, nurse practitioners and pharmacists who chose this community to work in.”
