New health center opens in Frayser

This week Resurrection Health, a faith-based health service organization, opened its third location in the Frayser community. This is the fourth location opened city-wide since the organization first launched a year ago with a health center on American Way. The organization offers both adult and pediatric primary and inpatient care.
 
The new location at the intersection of Range Line Road and Frayser Boulevard offers a 16-exam room health center, which will be open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The 10-person staff will provide broad spectrum primary care, including services in prenatal care, pediatrics, women’s health, HIV/AIDS care, general surgery, and adult and geriatric medicine.
 
There are more than 30,000 low-income residents in the Frayser zip code of 38127, and according to federal authorities, 77 percent of those residents are not accessing health centers now. Resurrection Health has chosen continued growth in this community to shrink that percentage.
 
Drs. Rick Donlon and David Pepperman, co-founders and physicians at Resurrection Health, officially opened the Frayser center Tuesday morning with the help of local community, health and political leaders. U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen, Rev. Jimmy Young of Grace Evangelical Church and leaders from other major Memphis health organizations were present at the ribbon-cutting event.
 
“We actually planted roots in Frayser many years ago, with several of our practitioners and their families currently living in this area,” Donlon said. “We plan to leverage our skills, relationships and passion for equal access to health care for all to help make Frayser a healthier community. With only three primary care locations in the neighborhood to serve more than 50,000 residents, that ratio reinforces that we’re a needed presence here.”
 
Donlon, Pepperman and other Resurrection Health practitioners worked in Frayser previously with Christ Community Health Services before launching Resurrection Health. Resurrection Health additionally has a presence in nearby Alta Vista at 2150 Whitney Ave., where the organization is co-located with Alliance Healthcare Services, one of the largest nonprofit mental health centers in the area.