Odessa Brown Children’s Clinic Opens New Facility In South Seattle

Earlier this week, The Odessa Brown Children’s Clinic (OBCC) and Children's Hospital opened the doors to its new clinic on the corner of Othello and Martin Luther King Jr. Way S. The post Odessa Brown Children’s Clinic Opens New Facility In South Seattle appeared first on The Seattle Medium.

Odessa Brown Children’s Clinic Opens New Facility In South Seattle
Pictured above is the second floor medical clinic lobby of Odessa Brown Children’s Clinic’s new South Seattle location. The state-of-the-art facility not only offers medical and dental services, but it also has a community center, computer and conference rooms, and a basketball court. (Staff Photo/Aaron Allen)

By Aaron Allen, The Seattle Medium

Earlier this week, The Odessa Brown Children’s Clinic (OBCC) and Children’s Hospital opened the doors to its new clinic on the corner of Othello and Martin Luther King Jr. Way S. After several years of planning, focus groups, community participation and construction, OBCC has a new state of the art facility, and it is impressive.

With the support of donors, who contributed more than $125 million to community health and wellness initiatives, Seattle Children’s Hospital invested $52 million to build a second OBCC location in South Seattle near the Othello Link light rail station. Additionally, Seattle Children’s Hospital Board of Trustees approved a long-term financial support plan for Odessa Brown Children’s Clinic that includes $37.5 million in operational funds and a $125 million endowment. The support plan ensures OBCC’s financial health and mission to provide equitable pediatric care to current and future generations.

The new facility offers not only medical and dental services, but also sports, speech therapy and rehabilitation. It has a community center including a basketball court donated by Lenny Wilkens, a kitchen and other amenities like libraries, computer and conference rooms that are designed to give the residents of the area what the doctors and staff refer to as “quality care with dignity.”

“[The clinic] provides all of what you can think of, the sports medicine, the rehabilitation, the occupational health, the physical therapy, all of these services are in one place as we think about quality care and excellence,” says Antwanette Lyons, Manager of Community Health Programs & Advocacy at Seattle Children’s Hospital. “This is a place where you are going to receive those services.”

Surrounded by some of the most creative artistry that adorns almost every nook and cranny of the building, Dr. Shaquita Bell, Senior Medical Director of the facility, says that the new Othello clinic will provide top notch medical care to the residents of South Seattle just as it did for decades in the Central Area.

“This is truly amazing,” says Bell. “It is such a privilege and honor to be in this space and to think about how we are going to be able to deliver care here. I saw six patients and I talked to each and every one of them about this location and it is so fun to hear the excitement about community, to having a space that has been updated, to having new options and to think about all the possibilities.”

“We want our families to be represented so they can see themselves in action,” says Lyons. “Having an Indigenous, Black senior medical director is so important for our community to see. For them to be able to walk around and see the art that looks like them, that representation is so important.”

The one thing as you walk around the build that stands out, besides its staff and doctors, is the artwork that covers the walls and halls of the clinic. A conglomerate of 22 artist were chosen to create an atmosphere that is both inviting and represents the diversity that is South Seattle. Signs are written in several different languages that are spoken throughout the neighborhood, Spanish, Somalian, Southeast Asia dialects – a total of 40 different languages all together.

Blanca Santander, one of the featured artists whose work occupies the walls and the ceiling of the dental clinic, says that she hopes her contribution to the clinic can help bring peace and joy to the children that enter the facility.

“My intention for these 15 pieces was for the children to explore and use their imagination to travel and recreate the world I created for them,” says Santander. “The most powerful place of peace is in the imagination. It’s where children, especially, can have the most fun and enjoyment. If a child is hurt in any way and needs to go to the hospital, I want to remind them that we can always travel to a joyful place.”

Lyons agrees and says that every aspect of the building was designed with a specific intent.

“[Our] State of the art equipment and décor were made with the health and well-being of children in mind,” says Lyons. “All the way down to the color on the walls. In which a focus group of children were brought in to choose colors as well as the choose and test furnishings.

One of the major attributes the clinic offers is convenience. Prior to the new location care at OBCC was “co-located” meaning you may be diagnosed in one place but would have to be referred to another facility for additional or follow-up care. However, the new clinic offers referrals that are available within the same building.

“One of the things that I am most excited about is we are taking care that used to be co-located — so you would go to one place, and you would have a dental clinic, another place a medical clinic – to this location [where] these services are all coming together,” says Bell. “So, if I’m in a visit and I see a patient who may need a dentist, the dentist will come to that patient’s room. The patient doesn’t have to make another appointment, they don’t have to go downstairs, the dentist has to come to them and vice versa. If a dentist patient needs to see a doctor, then I come to them. We call this integrated medicine, and it is really putting the patient and the family at the center and saying how do we bring all the services to where you are at.”

Lyons agrees and says that the new facility is just what the doctor ordered.

“The clinic is designed to provide the type of care everyone needs,” says Lyons. “The clinic is all about the community and provides the best possible care.”

The post Odessa Brown Children’s Clinic Opens New Facility In South Seattle appeared first on The Seattle Medium.