Michael Jordan Donates $7M to Open Medical Clinics in Underserved Charlotte Communities
NBA legend and Charlotte Hornets majority owner Michael Jordan is donating $7 million to open two medical clinics in underserved and poverty stricken Charlotte, N.C., communities, reportsThe Charlotte Observer.
The money will fund the Novant Health Michael Jordan Family Clinics in north and northwest Charlotte, with the openings slated for late 2020.
The Charlotte Observer reports that Jordan started having conversations with Novant Health—the Hornets' official health care provider—roughly 16 months ago, as he tried to search for a way to help the poor in Charlotte. According to the Observer, Jordan was inspired by a survey from Harvard and University of California at Berkley in 2014 that found poor children in Charlotte have the worst odds to escape poverty out of any big U.S. city.
Jordan said in a statement to The Charlotte Observer that he was proud to partner with Novant “to bring critical health services to under-served areas of Charlotte and the thousands of North Carolinians with limited access to health care.”
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Novant said to The Charlotte Observer that the clinics will offer family physicians, pediatricians, behavioral health, physical therapy, social work, oral health and family-planning services. Novant estimated that over five years the clinics will care for almost 35,000 children and adults, with the potential to decrease emergency room use by 68% and decrease hospitalization by 37%.
Jordan, 54, has big ties to North Carolina, growing up in Wilmington and attending UNC-Chapel Hill.
