Grove Park Seniors Gain Greater Access to Care at CenterWell Senior Primary Care Center

Seniors in Atlanta’s Grove Park community have eagerly anticipated a primary care center focused solely on their needs. The new CenterWell Senior Primary Care center in Grove Park is open and members of the community are coming through the doors in droves – the first patient not even waiting for the official opening day to sign up!

The newest CenterWell Senior Primary Care Center in Atlanta has been a long time coming, according to Georgia Market President Marcus Taylor.

“Our Grove Park center fills a need that has gone unaddressed in this community for quite some time,” Taylor said. “The building sat unused and without basic utilities for years, so we worked with the owner to completely transform it to be a meaningful addition to the area. But this community and its seniors need and deserve this place, and we’re so thrilled to be making an impact on the health and well-being of people here.”

Building owner Jonathan E. Leonard of Ames Properties, LLC, agrees. As a business and community leader in the Grove Park neighborhood, Leonard recognized the opportunity to not only transform a blighted property that sat vacant for 20 years, but to also bring much-needed services to the area. Partnering with Invest Atlanta and South State Bank, Leonard spent the past two years remediating the land and rebuilding the structure from the studs so it could be the state-of-the-art facility residents need and deserve.

“I love this community and the people who live here – so I am also keenly aware of what they need to thrive,” Leonard said. “We acquired this property with the specific goal of working with CenterWell to bring care to our local seniors. And we hope when others see what we’ve accomplished, they’ll be inspired to bring other vital services and business to Grove Park.”

CenterWell is dedicated to improving the health of the people and communities they serve. At its core, CenterWell Senior Primary Care furthers Humana’s health equity initiatives by:

• Improving access to care and doctors
• Improving quality of care
• Addressing non-medical barriers to healthy living, such as social, behavioral and economic determinants of health

Improving Access to Care and Doctors
The CenterWell Grove Park team understands the challenges facing this underserved community, and providing access to senior-focused primary care is one step in the right direction. The center is conveniently located in the middle of the neighborhood with a bus stop on the nearest corner and a large parking lot with accessible parking spaces right in front – ensuring patients can get to the center easily.

“Access to care is so important to seniors, and CenterWell Grove Park means patients won’t have to leave their community just to see their doctor,” Taylor said.

Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens attended the grand opening Aug. 2, with his mother, Sylvia, and recognizes how important CenterWell is to the community, both for the seniors it serves and a model for neighborhood revitalization.

“CenterWell is focused on people like you and my mother, who are young at heart and want to live their best lives,” the mayor said. “And this location is so important because this area has been one of our most underserved areas, and that can be particularly troubling for some of our seniors…that’s why I’m so happy to welcome CenterWell to this neighborhood.”  

Improving Quality of Care
The range of extended services patients receive at CenterWell are designed to improve quality of care with seniors in mind:

• Longer appointment times – up to 40 minutes or longer, as needed
• Special chairs that quickly convert to examination tables
• Wheelchair-enabled weight scales and other features to aid those with limited mobility
• In-house laboratory
• Convenient, one-stop experiences for the senior patient, including social and educational events, chronic care management and wellness services

Addressing Barriers to Healthy Living
"Our approach to care focuses on the whole person including factors that affect a person’s health,” said Dr. Abiola Ojewole, internal medicine specialist at CenterWell Grove Park. “We work to address non-medical barriers to healthy living, like ensuring our patients have access to healthy food or transportation, if they don’t have a way to get to appointments. We also look after their social and emotional health, and we’re excited to open our activity center to the entire community, not just patients.”

In addition to its healthcare offerings, CenterWell Grove Park includes an activity center where seniors can stop in any time for a cup of coffee or to chat with friends. Activity coordinators plan educational and exercise classes, movie nights, and schedule game activities such as bingo to keep people in the community active and socially engaged.

The CenterWell Grove Park team is also working with community partners, like the local American Heart Association and the Metro Atlanta Coalition for Healthy Neighborhoods, to offer blood pressure checks, education classes and more healthy food options to Grove Park residents.

“We believe in investing in our communities and the power of bringing people together,” said Dr. Jodine Sejour-Donatien, Associate Medical Director for CenterWell Senior Primary Care in Atlanta. “We have a mission to deliver care close to home and from the heart. We look forward to showing Grove Park seniors the CenterWell difference.”

CenterWell Senior Primary Care accepts patients with many different Medicare Advantage health plans, as well as some patients who have Original Medicare. Learn more about our approach to senior-focused care by visiting CenterWell Senior Primary Care.