North Carolina Newspapers

October 24, 1996 NEWS/ The Charlotte Post 3A Authority to run westside center By John Minter THE CHARLOTTE POST Carolinas Medical Center will open its new Biddlepointe medical center next spring with five family practice physicians. Hospital authority spokesman Alan Taylor said last week that CMC will build and own the three-story, 27,000-square-feet medical building on the former Weathers Furniture Co. lot at Five Points. Original plans called for the Northwest Corridor Community Development Corp. and Johnson C. Smith University to own and build the center, which would then be leased to Carolinas Medical. “As we got into the process, the university officials decided they didn’t want to be in the development business,” said Northwest CDC director Ike Heard Jr. Heard said JCSU had owned the larger portion of the lot, while the CDC owned a small section. “Johnson C. Smith has first right to get the building back,” Taylor said. Also, he said, Carolinas Medical’s financial strength meant they could build the center without having to get a loan to do so. “This allowed us to move ahead with our aggressive timetable,” Taylor said. “This frees them to move ahead (with other projects). We do this all the time. We build and development office parks.” Taylor said the new medical center will open with five fam ily doctors and room for up to 16 other allied health care providers. R.J. Deeper Construction will erect the PHOTO/SUE ANN JOHNSON An empty lot at the Five Points intersection will soon become home to a health facility run by Carolinas Medical Center. building, which is being designed by Gantt-Huberman Architects, Taylor said. Although the center will in some cases compete with African American physicians on the west side, Taylor said the idea is not to “put anyone else out of business.” “For years, folks on that side of town have told us there is a need for us to have a facility there,” Taylor said. “The com munity feedback has told us there is a need. We believe the need is so great we are going there.” Also part of the equation is the CMC-sponsored health maintenance organization, which has part of the state contract to care for Medicaid patients. Since July, five HMOs have handled Medicaid patients in Mecklenburg County, part of a N.C. pilot program, and a part of the contract requires HMOs to provide facilities near their clients. The Carolinas Medical HMO, the Wellness Plan, will set up two other medical cen ters in North Park Mall and in the transit center uptown, Taylor said. Among the medical practices the Biddle Point center will compete with is the not-for- profit C.W. Williams Health Center on Wilkinson Boulevard. C.W. Williams has served the west side’s low income residents for 15 years and more than 50 percent of its roughly 4,000 patients are covered by Medicaid. C.W. Williams is joining with 15 other community health centers to form an HMO to compete with the larger private companies vying to serve the state. Executive director Michelle Marrs, though acknowledging a need for good health care in west Charlotte, said she hopes Carolinas Medical will make an effort to work with African American doctors already there and also foster economic development by hiring and doing business with people in the surrounding community. “I think it is past due,” said Marrs. Buffalo Soldiers banquet By John Minter THE CHARLOTTE POST The 9th and 10th (Horse) Cavalry Association will hold its second annual N.C. chap ter banquet Saturday at Renaissance Place restaurant. Rev. Vemell Lyles, associate pastor of New St. John Baptist Church, will keynote the affair, at which awards will be given outstanding members. The association’s mission is to maintain and spread the memory of the Buffalo Soldiers, African American men and women who fought in all-black Army units during the latter half of the 19th cen tury. They were dubbed Buffalo Soldiers by Native Americans because of their curly hair, rough attire and bravery, according to the group’s historian, Joyce Ashby. “Our organization was founded Jan. 28, 1995,” Ashby said. “The mission is to per petuate the memory of the comrades who have passed on the history of the many accomplishments of the 9th and 10th Calvary Regiments in the defense of our country.” The association’s member ship is spread throughout North Carolina, and made up of active and retired military personnel. “Organization members are split over the state,” Ashby said. “Membership is people active ly involved in the military - Army, National Guard....Some are retired. Some are reservists. We are the only recognized chapter of Buffalo Soldiers in North Carolina.” The association’s mission is to bring the story of the Buffalo Soldiers to as many people as possible, Ashby said. “Many of us did not know about the Buffalo Soldiers, why they dressed like they did. Part of our mission is to bring history to the communi ty. There’s so much informa tion for people to review,” she said. “We do presentations, update on information we researched. “We do have at A&T State University a display regarding the Buffalo Soldiers. Our mis sion is to place something at Ft. Fisher outside of Kerr Beach, N.C. Plans are to place some historical information there, as well as at other sites.” Maj. Richard Kingsberry, a full time National Guard offi cer in Charlotte and president of the N.C. chapter, said the group is trying to set up edu cational programs in the state’s school systems. “We have an educational mission, not only for our mem bers, but the general public also,” Kingsberry said. “We want to go and spread infor mation through the communi ties of the state. 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