Mirian Worthy Women’s Health Center settles into new home

ALBANY — In the two months since the Mirian Worthy Women’s Health Center moved into its new location on Palmyra Road, both patients and staff of Albany Area Primary Health Care say they have noticed the difference.

A sublease agreement was entered into by the Hospital Authority of Albany-Dougherty County last year for the former Albany Arthritis and Orthopedic Center location at 2100 Palmyra Road. The building was given to AAPHC, and an investment of $300,000 was made to turn the building into a new home for its women’s health services.

With the move to Palmyra Road from South Madison Street, the center was allowed to expand from 12 exam rooms to 21 rooms and gain a larger waiting room and parking lot.

“The space we had was just not sufficient,” said Dr. Keisha Callins, one of the physicians at the Mirian Worthy center.

Prior to the move in April, patients had to stay in the same room for multiple procedures. The already limited number of exam rooms were tied up longer, so the congestion in the full waiting room remained.

Now, there are separate rooms for routine exams and special procedures for the 1,200-1,300 women health care personnel see monthly.

“We have a lot more space to do more things,” Callins said.

The move also put the center closer to lunch destinations and bus stops, resulting in opportunities of convenience for patients. Being farther away from those destinations reinforced the notion that the center treats only low-income women, which is not the case.

Now, the center has more visibility and is bringing in a patient base it might not have otherwise.

“I feel good about practicing without people judging us and what we do,” Callins said.

Office space for a behavioral health specialist and social worker is now available when those specialists are needed. A bone density scan has its own space, and a room has been set aside for when AAPHC can get the funding to provide a mammography machine. There is also an ultrasound room, special procedure rooms and work spaces for providers.

Childbirth classes are also held at the center, making it a one-stop shop for women’s health and a bigger platform to meet patient needs.

“As time goes on, what we are doing is becoming comprehensive,” Callins said.

The nurses say that patients’ needs are met more effectively, thereby improving the patient flow.

“This is much better,” said Louise Brinkley of the new center. “From what we came from, it’s excellent.”

Brinkley said she has felt an advantage herself in that she has more room to collaborate with her co-workers. She said she has also noticed a different attitude from the patients.

“The patients just love it,” she said. “The patients are so much happier.”

The relocation has further equipped the staff with a bigger stock room, a conference room, space for a fourth physician to come on staff later this year, increased space for stress tests as well as a spacious second floor that the clinic intends to eventually utilize.

In the time frame since the center first opened, a 50 percent increase in volume has been recorded.

“It was vitally important for us to move into a new space,” said Mirian Worthy physician Dr. Francis Kwarteng.

Making the clinic into a one-stop destination is one of pride for Kwarteng. He said improved resources allow for quicker results for the patients who would otherwise wait weeks for certain tests to come back, and the clinic is another avenue for the staff to more effectively serve patients.

Perhaps most notable is that care is provided on a sliding scale fee, giving those who are uninsured or underinsured a level of care they might not otherwise get.

“This is a clinic for the community, and the community is for us. Mirian Worthy has come to stay, so long as women’s health care is needed,” Kwarteng said.

Nita Young, another one of the clinic’s nurses, said the word definitely appears to be getting out about the center’s recent progress.

“It seems like we are already increased in the number of patients coming in,” she said.

Some patients had to park at the funeral home next door to the old clinic, and others had to wait in their car if they wanted to sit down. Elois Edge, one of four midwives at the clinic, has been on staff since the original location opened, noticed the inconvenience for patients at the former location.

“(The South Madison location) was great, because it was a place to serve these ladies, but we outgrew it so quick,” she said. “Some of these patients didn’t have room to sit. Now, we have better turnover times. There is a sense of happiness and joy (for patients) to know they have access to care and a good environment.”

Edge said she has also seen improved patient satisfaction in the increased space and accessibility, now that patients are getting “optimal services in an optimal environment.”

“We serve all, and that is the bottom line,” she said. “That’s what it should be in all cases, but it’s not.”

Shelley Spires, CEO of AAPHC, said the leadership team heard quite often of the problems at Mirian Worthy associated with the cramped space, so avenues were explored to provide relief.

“The most practical way was a partnership,” she said.

The vacated women’s center, Spires said, is being repurposed into a transition of care facility, meant to allow for faster follow-up care after a patient has been discharged from the hospital. It will open on July 6 with a goal of better regulating care until primary providers can start managing a patient’s care after a hospital visit, in turn decreasing re-admissions.

“We hope it will expedite care if (patients) have to wait (for a primary care appointment),” Spires said.

While the $300,000 was a hefty investment, it is minimal when compared to the cost of building a facility from the ground up — which can be particularly difficult when there is not a lot to of ground go around in the first place.

“That is certainly one of those advantages (of a partnership),” Spires said. “That is the way we have to meet rural health needs.”

The addition of the fourth physician will further help to provide care in a thorough, timely and cost-effective manner, but evaluation for expansion is on the table.

“I definitely think the need is there,” Spires said.