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accessHealthNews.net
August 2024
Volume 10 | Issue No. 87
Even though National Health Center Week
has come and gone, it's important that
we turn our spotlight to a Kansas City insti-
tution with a profound impact: Samuel U.
Rodgers Health Center. Its story is not just
about a clinic; it's a chronicle of unwaver-
ing dedication to dismantling health care
segregation and ensuring equitable ac-
cess for all.
A Pioneering Vision: The Birth of a Commu-
nity Health Center
After completing his residency and grad-
uating medical school, Dr. Samuel U. Rod-
gers, who became the first African-Ameri-
can board-certified OB/GYN in the Kansas
City area, accepted an internship at Kan-
sas City's General Hospital No. 2, the city's
segregated hospital for Black patients.
However, like many of his colleagues, he
soon left to serve with the Army Medical
Corps during World War II. While overseas,
Rodgers witnessed firsthand how hospitals
could function in a desegregated man-
ner, treating both patients and health care
professionals equitably. This experience fu-
eled his determination to fight against the
segregated system back home in Kansas
City.
Dr. Rodgers was never one who accepted
the status quo; he fought hard for change.
Disillusioned by the unequal treatment at
General Hospital No. 2, he took action.
"He was a short man in stature, but he was
a skyscraper in toughness, and his tough-
ness led to implementation," reflected Jim
Nunnelly, the original administrative devel-
oper behind Dr. Rodgers.
In 1947, Dr. Rodgers and his Black col-
leagues staged a strike at General Hospital
No. 2. This bold move challenged the sys-
tem's discriminatory practices. The strike's
success, along with Dr. Rodgers' ongoing
efforts, paved the way for desegregation.
By 1959, Kansas City's segregated hospitals
were a relic of the past.
In 1968, he embarked on a groundbreak-
ing venture. He established the Wayne
Miner Health Center (renamed Samuel U.
Rodgers Health Center in 1988), which be-
came the first federally recognized com-
munity health center in Missouri and one of
only four in the United States.
"You realize how important outstanding health care, outstanding access,
is to communities," "I am so elated with our partners at Samuel Rodgers.
With healthcare, housing, transportation, all the things that we should be
doing in Kansas City are being done right, this neighborhood and right
here."
READ MORE
- Kansas City Mayor, Quinton Lucas
