Greenville Leader

Bon Secours Richmond announced plans to renovate a two-story, 8,000-square-foot space in Manchester that will soon become the Bon Secours Community Health Clinic, Manchester, at the Center for Healthy Living. This clinic will be the first ever fixed site of the Bon Secours Care-A-Van, a mobile health clinic that’s been serving Richmond’s uninsured community for more than 25 years. The Bon Secours Community Health Clinic in Manchester is expected to open in early 2023.

“Bon Secours recognizes that the factors that drive individual and community health extend far beyond the walls of our hospitals,” said Becky Clay Christensen, executive director of community health for Bon Secours Richmond. “We could not be more excited to bring Bon Secours’ compassionate ministry to the Manchester community and offer these critical health care services to our most vulnerable populations through this important community health work.”

The Bon Secours Community Health Clinic in Manchester will provide wrap-around services addressing the social determinants of health to uninsured and underinsured adults and children including primary care, chronic disease management and behavioral health services. In keeping with Bon Secours’ Mission to improve the health and well-being of our communities and bring good help to those in need, especially people who are poor, dying and underserved, the Bon Secours Community Health Clinic will promote well-being and connect individuals and families to sustainable resources to support their unique socioeconomic needs.  

“We are grateful for the opportunity to bring all of the services we currently offer on the Care-A-Van to our patients and community in one fixed location,” said Paula Young, M.D., medical director for the Bon Secours Care-A-Van. “This clinic will be outfitted with new equipment and the latest medical technology, which will enhance our ability to provide the quality, compassionate care we are known for to this community now and for many years to come.”

Operating as an extension of the Bon Secours Care-A-Van, the Bon Secours Community Health Clinic will follow the model of care that existing patients are already familiar with. The clinic will continue to serve uninsured children and adults via both scheduled appointments as well as same day call-in appointments. The clinic will feature eight exam rooms, an on-site lab and in addition to offering primary care and chronic disease management, the clinic will have women’s health services and new behavioral health services available on-site. The clinic will also house some of Bon Secours’ community health team.

The Bon Secours Community Health Clinic, Manchester, will be located within two miles of three of the highest volume Care-A-Van mobile clinic sites at 2301 Everett St. The two-story, 8,000-square-foot space Bon Secours will be renovating is part of a recently revitalized building owned by CARITAS, which is home to five programs including The Healing Place, a long-term, peer-driven residential recovery program. The Bon Secours Community Health Clinic in Manchester will not only serve the local community but will also complement the important community work that CARITAS is leading in the region. 

The Bon Secours Care-A-Van began serving the community in 1994 with one van and a sole focus on children’s immunizations. Today, it operates five days a week, providing primary, urgent and preventative care to uninsured adults and children throughout the region in partnership with churches and other local nonprofits. The Care-A-Van offers wellness visits, back-to-school immunizations, health insurance enrollment, financial assistance services and health education services. Staffed with Bon Secours physicians, nurses and social workers, the Care-A-Van provided care to more than 13,000 patients last year.

The Bon Secours Community Health Clinic, Manchester, is made possible through the generosity of donors to the Bon Secours Richmond Health Care Foundation, which will continue to engage donors to fundraise for this important program.

In recent years, Bon Secours has expanded its community health work into the Manchester area, most notably, through local investments in financial literacy programs. In addition, along with partners LISC Virginia, InUnison and Capital One, last year Bon Secours expanded the Supporting East End Entreprenuership Development (SEED) program to include small businesses located along the Hull Street Corridor. The Community Health Clinic, Manchester, will be Bon Secours’ first clinical presence in the Manchester community.

Original source can be found here.