a n d
p l a c e s
p e o p l e
said FSU is working hard to learn what the community
wants and needs in a clinic, and to learn more about the
people’s lives.
“We teach our students literally on Day One of medical
school that a person’s health is determined far more by
what happens in between the doctor’s visits than at the
doctor’s visits,” he said at the groundbreaking. “If you
want to address the health of a person, want to address
the health of a family, want to address the health of a
community, you need to understand all of that.… And
now we get to practice what we teach.”
County Commissioner Jimbo Jackson, principal of west-
The College of Medicine’s new primary-care clinic is big news for residents in several south Tallahassee
neighborhoods, as Dean John P. Fogarty explained to a number of media outlets reporting from the
groundbreaking ceremony.
side Fort Braden School, called the clinic a dream come true:
“We know that healthy kids learn better than kids that are
sick. We know that healthy families raise healthy kids.”
Sabal Palm Principal Anicia Robinson picked up on
that theme: “We are very excited about the opportunity
to have our parents, students, grandparents, aunts, uncles,
everyone in this community have direct access to health
An FSU clinic for our underserved neighbors
B
efore he dug his gold shovel into a opening in 2019, it will include 15 patient
pile of dirt at Roberts Avenue and exam rooms, two rooms for behavioral-health
Eisenhower Street, FSU President services, two health-procedure rooms and a
John Thrasher told his audience: community room.
“The College of Medicine has been breaking
ground one way or another for the last 17 years.”
This particular groundbreaking was
“Our faculty members will have an
opportunity to maintain their practice skills,
get valuable interaction with patients and their
historic. On a rainy afternoon in May, it families, and teach and mentor both medical
officially christened the College of Medicine’s and PA students,” Dean John P. Fogarty said.
partnership with Sabal Palm Elementary School
Though the clinic will be available to anyone
and surrounding neighborhoods – with the in Leon and surrounding counties, this site was
promise of a 10,000-square-foot, full-service, chosen specifically to serve the moderate- to
primary-care health center. lower-income residents in nearby Providence,
The clinic, FSU PrimaryHealth, will provide
a range of services not now available in that
corner of Leon County. With an expected
10
Mabry Manor, The Meadows and Seminole
Manor communities near Sabal Palm.
Senior Associate Dean Daniel Van Durme
care…. And it’s in their own backyard.”
Alumni staffing
college’s new
primary-care clinic
W
hen FSU PrimaryHealth’s
clinic opens next year in
an underserved area of
Tallahassee, two of the new
faculty members seeing patients will be College
of Medicine alumni. Mary Norton (M.D., ’13)
was hired last year to both teach and practice
pediatrics. Shermeeka Hogans-Mathews
(M.D., ’15) was hired this summer for her
Hogans-Mathews
Norton