Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, January 24, 1993 TAG: 9301260255
SECTION: ECONOMY PAGE: EC12 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CHARLYNE H. McWILLIAMS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
MEDICAL CENTER ANSWERS NEEDS
Wanda Ingram used to go across town, from her home off Peters Creek Road, to visit her doctor.The Northwest Medical Center, which opened in October, gave the licensed practical nurse a more convenient place to get health care.
"I'm here to stay," she said.
Ingram's dedication to the center, a not-for-profit branch of Carilion Health System, is rooted in its importance to a community of minority and elderly citizens that has a history of being medically underserved.
The last doctor, Dr. Anthony Remson, closed his Melrose Avenue office in July 1991. Until Carilion Health System reopened the clinic, many residents of that area considered themselves without a doctor. The center, on McDowell Avenue, quickly earned a special place in the hearts of Northwest Roanoke residents.
Frances Chubb said she waited for the center to open since the announcement of its coming last June.
Chubb, a retired librarian, said it's important to have a black doctor serving the community because it makes the people in the community feel more comfortable and more willing to visit a doctor on a regular basis.
"It's good to come to a doctor and be treated as an individual," she said.
It had been three years since Jeanette Hayes has been to a doctor. The Roanoke resident said she could not afford the visits while studying to be a nurse at the College of Health Sciences.
"It was taking all I had to stay in school," said Hayes, who is now a registered nurse at Community Hospital of the Roanoke Valley.
She said the new center gives her an affordable place to go and also is nearer her Roundhill Avenue home.
Dr. LeGree Hallman cares for the patients at the center with a three-person support staff: a nurse, lab technician and office manager. He said several people have told him they hadn't seen a doctor for several years before their visits to him. Their main reasons were not being able to afford medical care and the hassle of getting there without their own transportation.
Now, Hallman said, many of his patients can walk to the office.
"People who need medical attention are actually coming in and getting it," he said.
Although the center charges rates that are standard among area doctors, according to the Carilion system, Hallman said they are setting up a sliding scale based on patients' incomes.
Hallman said the center isn't profitable yet. He expects it will take about two years before it begins making money.
"I'm so proud we have a doctor over here," Chubb said. "I'm glad to be able to come back to this community."