Seattle-based Odessa Brown Children’s Clinic (OBCC) opened its latest location at a new urban community space with the aim of addressing social determinants of health that impact children’s health and development.
The new children's clinic is operated by Seattle Children’s Hospital and provides care primarily to people of color and low-income families. Its latest location is at Othello Square, a community space that includes a charter elementary school and mixed-income housing.
OBCC will be providing integrated outpatient care that includes medical, dental and behavioral health services as well as nutrition, sports medicine, physical therapy and occupational therapy.
OBCC Othello offers integrated health with coordinated and just-in-time visits, so patients have the option to see multiple specialists in one visit and one place. The location is now closer to most (75%) of families who have had to move south due to gentrification, Shaquita Bell, M.D., OBCC’s senior medical director, told Fierce Healthcare. It is complete with original art commissioned from 21 local artists, a gym, a community kitchen and a marketplace stocked with supplies like diapers and wipes.
“It’s almost intangible,” Bell said. “You really feel like you’re coming into a community space to get your healthcare.”
Though the clinic was just unveiled, plans for it have been long in the making, Bell said—close to a decade. And, for the past seven years, OBCC has been gathering input from staff and community members alike on what their needs might be for a new center. Input was collected via town halls and even Zoom calls with families and their young children who could approve or veto decor and room flow designs, Bell said. It was the community, for instance, that suggested including charging stations, a gym and cooking classes.
About a quarter of OBCC patients prefer their care in a language other than English, according to Bell. Bearing in mind unique patient population needs, OBCC and Seattle Children’s worked on addressing cultural differences by teaming up with partners like the Somali Health Board. The nonprofit helped perfect translations, not only literally but also culturally, within the clinic, to provide the most accurate context to patients about things related to their health.
The project has faced criticism and scrutiny, most notably from the former head of the OBCC, Ben Danielson, M.D., who resigned in late 2020 in an act of protest after more than 20 years at the organization, citing institutional racism. The hospital then launched an investigation, the full results of which it reportedly refused to release. Several families have also filed a joint lawsuit against the clinic, alleging racism.
The clinic would not be possible without a partnership with a large institution like Seattle Children’s, Bell acknowledged, which has its own foundation.
“We identify a need and we partner with Children’s to find the funding,” she said. Early in the pandemic, for instance, the hospital absorbed costs related to providing vaccinations for the community. With the help of donors who contributed more than $125 million to various health initiatives, the hospital invested $52 million to build Othello OBCC, the clinic said. The hospital is also providing more than $37 million in operational funds and a $125 million endowment for OBCC.
Though the opening of the Othello location ultimately launched on time, it nevertheless felt the impact of supply chain issues related to the pandemic. Critical computer cables for the facility were four months delayed, arriving only about a month ago. “COVID made the strangest things challenging,” Bell said.
For any healthcare organizations interested in launching a similar initiative, Bell recommends starting by inviting the community to provide input and work to understand its needs. Then, the key to success is collaboration with local partners, Bell emphasized.
Seattle Children’s had applied to the community board that was deciding on what to do with the space that has since become Othello Square. Following that action, partnerships through community networks were born that helped further the development of the space—the clinic received input from the charter elementary school, for instance, on what children might need from such a space.