Healthcare with dignity: Expanding services at the Clarkston Community Health Center

As co-founder of the Clarkston Community Health Center (CCHC), a charitable health clinic working in the most diverse square mile in Georgia to provide access to healthcare to those who would otherwise have none, I was shocked to read that Forbes recently ranked Georgia 50th out of 50 states for healthcare. As the data show for Georgia, far too many are uninsured, and far too many who have insurance cannot afford their deductibles. Incredibly, 15 percent of people in our state have made the agonizing decision to not see a doctor in the past year simply because they could not afford it.

This is unacceptable in a state that is otherwise so dynamic.

It is particularly unacceptable because we know what works: by investing in primary and preventive care services and giving everyone access to those services, we save lives and save money. Research has shown that for every $1 spent on primary care, $13 is saved in healthcare costs. Instead of a $10,000 emergency room bill for a preventable visit, CCHC provides comprehensive care — including regular visits to our primary care providers, specialty care referrals, free medications, lab testing, in-room medical interpreters in over 300 languages, and patient health education and navigation — all for around $600 per person per year.  

Our work proves that despite the challenges we face in healthcare, we must remain hopeful. We need to summon our resilience as a community in the face of this brokenness to provide innovative solutions that focus on the health and well-being of all people.

I know a little bit about resilience myself. 

Despite having been forced to flee Tanzania to Pakistan, then Pakistan to Iran, and finally Iran to the United States due to political persecution and instability, I never gave up on my dream of becoming a doctor. I was so fortunate to convince Dr. Louis Sullivan, who now serves on the Advisory Board for CCHC, to admit me into the inaugural class at the Morehouse School of Medicine. 

Once becoming a doctor, I was once again tested when my first husband was shot and killed in a random office shooting in 1999. Years later, I was diagnosed with breast cancer — and I am now a survivor for 15 years.  

After decades of taking care of patients, I decided to work with an incredible group of individuals, including our current board chair, Dr. Arshed Quyyumi, to open CCHC. I saw myself in so many of my patients: individuals forced to flee, constantly seeking opportunity, as well as native-born Americans just needing a chance to achieve their dreams.  

A few years later, as CCHC was growing, I decided to prematurely sell my private practice to focus all of my philanthropic time and efforts on this effort.

Through these experiences, I have learned four lessons that can make our country, our state, and our healthcare system better.

First, healthcare is a human right, and when we act on this core value, we save lives and save money. When we provide healthcare access to all, our neighbors are healthier; our companies are more productive with fewer sick days; we save individuals — particularly historically marginalized communities — from suffocating medical debt, and we save all of us in overall costs.

Second, we need philanthropy to be a catalyst for funding primary healthcare in the next five years to prove the case for significantly more public investment in healthcare in Georgia. Individual and institutional donors must act to invest in solutions to the crisis facing our state.

Third, we must embrace the incredible diversity of our country. Diversity is not just an empty concept. Diversity is a story like mine, multiplied many times over across this country. It is a story of coming to this country and — when given a warm welcome and a fair chance — spending a lifetime giving back.

Finally, despite the trials, we must remain hopeful. We must summon courage and resilience to continue forward even when faced with pain, trial, and brokenness.

In the past six months at CCHC, we have been working to live by these lessons.  

We have listened to the community — both our patients as well as our supporters across the city — and we are now responding to what we have heard: because of the high demand for our services and our track record of success in providing quality healthcare, we are expanding our impact to fill the gaps in our current healthcare system, opening full time in the months ahead, and working to serve all those who do not have access.

We are working hard to build a sustainable model for primary and preventive care that is a win-win-win for all: patients have access to care and are healthier, hospitals save money from a reduction in preventable emergency room visits, and all of us save money by working to reduce the overall costs of healthcare in our current system. 

This work is not free, but it is far, far cheaper to treat and prevent on the front end than to react to an emergency on the back end. 

We can do better in Georgia. I know this because, despite the challenges of my life and the challenges in our current healthcare system, this country offers us all the opportunity to fix problems, improve lives, and build a better future — if only we have the courage to face the challenges, embrace our diversity, and invest in solutions that help us all. 

If you are interested in learning more about CCHC and in making a difference in our healthcare system by making a financial contribution to support our efforts, please visit our website.