Rural Health Services continued its celebration of National Health Center Week with a grand opening ceremony for its newest facility on August 6.
The 20,000-square-foot Emanuel McClain Health Center for Women and Children is located at 995 Clyburn Place in Aiken.
The decorations for the special occasion included lots of purple, black and white balloons.
The participants were showered with purple confetti.
The building is named in honor of Carolyn Emanuel-McClain, who has served as CEO of Rural Health Services since 2009.
“This moment is a testament to … our commitment to improving health care for some of the most vulnerable members of our community,” Emanuel-McClain said. “This represents a vision that we have all worked tirelessly to achieve – a vision where women and children receive the best possible care, tailored to their individual needs.”
She described the Women’s and Children’s Health Center as a place where “compassionate care and cutting-edge medical technology come together.”
It is also a place “where families find support, where mothers get the care they deserve and where children grow up healthy and strong,” said Emanuel-McClain.
“When we cut this ribbon today, we are not just opening the doors,” she continued. “We are opening new opportunities for health, hope and healing in our community. This will serve as a commitment to the community for a better, healthier future for all.”
In addition to the board and staff of Rural Health Services, Emanuel-McClain also thanked the elected officials.
More than $8 million in federal funds were spent on building the women’s and children’s health center and on its infrastructure and facilities, Emanuel-McClain told the Aiken Standard.
Previously, women and children received services from providers working at the neighboring Clyburn Center.
Now, “they don’t have to be crammed into the other building (Clyburn Center), where we only had room for one or two pediatricians,” Emanuel-McLain said. “Here we’ll have four or five pediatricians and about three or four OB/GYNs. They’ll be able to see a lot more patients than they could in the other building over there. Then we can also create more space (at the Clyburn Center) and expand adult medicine, podiatry, optometry and pharmacy as needed.”
