A ‘medical home for the underserved’

West Ocala’s Estella Byrd Whitman Community Health Center stands as an oasis in what has been called a health care desert.

The nonprofit health center is located at 819 NW. 7th St., within an area bordered by Interstate 75, Pine Avenue, Southwest College Road and Northwest 28th Place, which the Ocala City Council defined in 2015 as “blighted” as per Florida Statute. The area is generally within Marion County’s zip code 34475, which is considered a Primary Care Health Professional Shortage Area by the Health Resources & Services Administration, first designated in 1986 and updated in 2021.

Levonda Goodson, 49, a licensed practical nurse, or LPN, and 24-year veteran of the health care field, including 14 years with the Heart of Florida Heath Center, a local source of affordable primary care, recently became CEO of the Estella Byrd Whitman center.

Goodson, a native of Summerfield, said there is “no other primary care in close proximity to the 34475 area, which has been deemed federally as a medical desert” and that residents typically have turned to local hospital emergency departments for help.

“We want to provide a medical home for the underserved,” Goodson stated.

Source: Ocala Gazette