Recovery Act Funds Support Nashville's Downtown Homeless Clinic Renovation

Reported from: The Tennessean, May 18, 2011: "Homeless Clinic Reopens"

On Friday, May 20, 2011, the Downtown Homeless Clinic will reopen its doors after undergoing a $500,000 renovation that provides additional treatment rooms, a counseling room and improved wait times for patients, who are often uninsured and without permanent addresses. The clinic has served more than 32,000 homeless patients over the past 25 years.

Nurse Practitioner Osman Gabure examines Ricky Woods in the temporary location of United Neighborhood Health Services Downtown Clinic in the Nashville Rescue Mission. / Jeanne Reasonover / The Tennessean

Operated by United Neighborhood Health Services since 2008, Nashville's Downtown Clinic treated almost 4,000 patients at its Eighth Avenue South location last year, and has served the community since 1985.

"It's just a lovely facility now, compared to the old one, which was very worn down," Friskics-Warren said. "We've gone from five exam rooms to eight, and we feel it will greatly enhance the wait times. It's a dignified setting for these patients to receive health care." Construction crews gutted the building and created a floor plan that would improve patient flow. The renovation project began in October and was funded locally by $50,000 in Metropolitan Development and Housing Agency funds and with $450,000 from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

Coco Thomas organizes supplies. / Jeanne Reasonover / The Tennessean

The 6,500-square-foot building has two new rooms for counseling, meeting and space that could eventually be used for three dental examination rooms. The clinic provides dental examinations, eye examinations, mental health services and substance abuse programs, and a variety of services vital to the homeless population.

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