Diversity Health Center is opening the doors this week and inviting the public to check out its Hinesville and Ludowici clinics.

“It’s a way for us to become better known in the community and for people to understand what we do and who we are,” CEO Vicki Smith said about the event. “There has always been this confusion about what Diversity is — you know, are we just a walk-in clinic? Are we a health department? Do we just do primary care?”

The private, nonprofit, federally funded center offers low-cost primary care to those who are uninsured and underinsured, Smith said. Last year, the facility saw about 4,000 patients in more than 10,000 visits. 

The Ludowici clinic held its open house Tuesday, and the Hinesville facility will be open from 4-6 p.m. Thursday. It is located at 303 Fraser Drive.

“I think with the economy and with people losing their jobs, the demand for health centers is going to increase,” she said.
That’s why the center is using this week as an opportunity to inform the public. The clinic takes patients on both a walk-in and appointment basis.

The facility is one of many taking part in National Community Health Center Week, which aims to increase awareness for the centers’ services to the community, according to the National Association of Community Health Centers online.

In the United States alone, there are 44 million people without insurance, and another 56 million who may have insurance but live in areas without basic health services, the site said.

“Community health centers can look very different depending on who they are and what they do,” Smith said. “We’re very small, we’re new and we’re rural.”

Locally, the Diversity Health Care centers in Hinesville and Ludowici provide a variety of services, from chronic-disease management to family planning and gynecology to immunizations for both children and adults. They also have contracts for referrals for other specialists, including dentists, eye doctors and podiatrists.

The centers have one full-time physician, one part-time physician, two full-time and one part-time nurse practitioners as well as a full support staff, she said.

 “We do what I call ‘cradle to grave’ medicine,” Smith said. “We see babies, we see chronically ill people who have asthma, diabetes, but then we also help people when their stomach aches or when they need stitches or minor things like that.”

Services offered are based on the federal sliding fee scale, where those who meet 100 percent of the federal poverty guideline pay $25 for clinical services, she said. The center also serves those who do not meet the full level but who are considered to be low-income and even people whose insurance deductibles are so high that they would pay much of their costs out-of-pocket.

“If you have a $3,000 deductible just for health insurance and you’re a healthy person, you’re not going to meet that,” she said.

“If you don’t have insurance, we have to have proof of your income, and then we take your income and the number in your household and we base your charges on that.”

The facility accepts Medicare, Medicaid and TRICARE, in addition to those who have coverage through United Health Care and Blue Cross Blue Shield, Smith said. It also works with patients to create payment plans.

The clinics are open Monday-Friday from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. On Wednesdays, the Ludowici clinic is open until 8 p.m.