COLUMBIA, S.C. — The opening of a new medical facility in Columbia is hoping to provide women's health services to underserved communities.
A crowd gathered at Gervais street Friday to celebrate the opening Eau Claire Cooperative Health Center's brand new Waverly Women's Health facility. According to Dr. Eric Schlueter from Cooperative Health, the center plans to provide cost effective services for families of all income levels.
"[It] allows our OBGYN physicians to have access to provide ambulatory services but also to be close to the hospital that they can be able to do that as well." He adds, "and then understand the historic Waverly community and how much this community has been a part of providing health care services to the African American community it just seemed like a perfect fit."
The building sits at the corner of Gervais and Pine Streets on the edge of Columbia's historic Waverly Neighborhood. Reverend Frank Houston is the President of Historic Columbia. He says the community has century's old connections to the medical industry.
He notes black doctors opened hospticials in the Waverly neighborhood including Good Samaritan Hospital and a black nursing and training school during a time when black residents didn't have many options.
"it really goes back to before the early 1900s, the late 1800s, when the medical community began to form and take shape." He says, "Many of the homes where the doctors lived are still in the community."
Down the street from the new medical facility lives James Baker, who has been a part of the community since he was born at Good Samaritan Hospital 81 years ago. He recalls over the decades Waverly began to lose its charm when abandoned buildings and crime plagued the neighborhood. Investments like the new health center make him optimistic that Waverly's rich history will have a strong legacy.
"This just continues the healthcare legacy that Waverly has been known for."
Cooperative health says the center has already begun welcoming patients and is starting to provide care.