Florida: State-of-the-Art Clinic Opens

A new clinic run by the Miami-Dade County Health Department opened in Little Haiti on March 30, providing residents with access to crucial health care services.

The Little Haiti Health Center, located at 300 NE 80th Ter., is staffed with Creole-speaking employees. It offers specialized services including testing for STDs, TB and pregnancy, as well as family planning. Patients needing more general health services will be referred to other agencies.

Laurinius Pierre, the Center for Haitian Studies' executive director, said the clinic serves a great need due to the high rates of HIV and TB among the Haitian-American community. "This is very good and this is a direction that we want to go," said Pierre. "There is a lot more work to do, and we need to go forward."

"We don't want people to walk around sick," said Marie O. Etienne, president of the Haitian American Nurses Association of Flordia. "We want them to come out and get screened and educate people that it is OK to get health care."

"The clinic signifies a true partnership to make it possible to improve the quality of life in the community," said US Rep. Kendrick Meek, a former state senator. Meek worked with former state Rep. Philip Brutus to secure $2.3 million in state funding for the clinic.

Back to other news for April 2007