If you're reading the DIRT blog, you know how proud I am of the work Care Free Medical and Dental are doing in Lansing. We are just the landlord, but the building is a model for what every county in America (world) needs to set up.
Preventative care saves lives, and taxpayer money. Making it easy to reach care saves time, increases quality of life, and means people actually get the care. We thought a lot about this before we purchased 1100 W Saginaw - a vacant medical office building on the edge of Sparrow Hospital's St Lawrence Campus. My partner and I asked "How can this building serve a need?"
I watched people walking down the street, waiting for the bus. I remember employees we had in Flint who had to take multiple buses when they were sick, to receive the same care I could drive to. It meant they missed more days of work (and likely infected more people).
What if you created smaller medical pods with multiple services, focused on this large and sadly growing population of people who don't have insurance coverage, ride public transit, and have jobs to get back to?
Pharmacy, general medical clinic, dental clinic, ophthalmology, mental health, physical therapy, hand surgery, podiatry, immigration, civil and criminal law services, government offices, charitable aid services with food and housing support, even a cab company in case you need a transfer.
All in one building, on the main bus line and walking distance to housing.
In 2021 we expect to push forward on an ambitious housing development to take this to a new level.
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