Open Cities Health Center 3.66

OCHC is a nonprofit community health care clinic whose mission is to see every patient who walks through the door, regardless of the patient's socio-economic status, ethnic make-up or racial affiliation.

The clinic was founded in 1967 in the basement of St. James Church, in St. Paul's old Rondo neighborhood, an area where the majority of residents were African American. The small clinic was operated by volunteers and services included immunizations and health education. Its mission was to provide health care to economically disadvantaged residents.

Not only was the concept of the clinic unique, but its original founders were also pioneers in the field. With the women's movement still a few years away, the health center's first leaders were not only African American, they were women. Mary Stokes was named the clinic's first coordinator in 1969. A public health nurse, she relocated to St. Paul from Harlem in 1947 and worked for the St. Paul Bureau of Public Health.

Mrs. Timothy O. Vann became the project director at the clinic in 1971. Vann supported her 10 children by herself when she was widowed in her early 30s. A graduate of Langston University and the University of Minnesota, she was employed by the St. Paul Public Works Department and for many years she worked for the Housing and Redevelopment Authority. Under Vann's leadership, the small community clinic expanded services to offer outpatient medical care and added many programs and services including social services, a pharmacy, dental facility and eye clinic.

The health clinic continued to attract a growing client base and needed to expand. The City of St. Paul had received funding under the Model Cities Program, a federal plan that provided financial assistance to distressed neighborhoods, in 1969. Summit-University in St. Paul was one of those areas. The clinic received part of the Model Cities funding and was first named 'Model Cities Health Project' and then for many years it was Model Cities Health Center. (Model Cities Health Center changed its name to Open Cities Health Center in 2003 to reflect the growing patient population that was both diverse and coming from all parts of the 7-county metropolitan area of the Twin Cities.)

OCHC expanded in 1972 to offer outpatient medical care including exams, minor emergency care, maternal and infant care, a well-baby clinic, podiatry, ophthalmology and hearing screens and moved to larger facilities at the Hallie Q. Brown - Martin Luther King Center.

Toward the end of the 70s, OCHC was established as a community health clinic and funding was granted under the Federal Urban Health Initiatives. OCHC was established as a 501c (3) nonprofit organization in 1981.

Mrs. Vann retired in 1983 and Dr. Beverley Oliver Hawkins replaced her as OCHC's new executive director. Under Hawkins leadership the clinic took a giant step forward when, in 1986, it moved into a newly constructed facility at the northeast corner of Fuller Avenue and Dale Street.

The clinic has a large multicultural, ethnically diverse client base and has continued to add services and specialists to respond to client needs including opening a prompt care clinic and adding a podiatrist and ophthalmologist. As OCHC has grown and has expanded service to other locations in neighboring areas it continues to provide a cost-effective way to meet the health needs of the community. OCHC currently provides care on a multilingual, multicultural basis, and has staff members from varied cultural backgrounds.

Today Open Cities Health Center offers comprehensive health care to all individuals and families. Medical services include pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology, family planning, adult care, geriatrics and internal medicine with specialists in dermatology, ophthalmology and podiatry. The family dentistry services include exams, x-rays, cleaning, dentures, partials and crowns, dental education and emergency walk-ins. The mental health department offers psychological and psychiatric evaluations, medicine management, case management, outreach, psychotherapy groups and support groups. Free HIV testing is also available. OCHC is open to everyone, including individuals and families without insurance. A sliding fee scale is also available.