A Winston-Salem community lifeline clinic expands its services

When the newly expanded Novant Health Today’s Adult Primary Care holds its ribbon-cutting ceremony in east Winston-Salem on May 22, longtime patient Sotonya Nelums will be there – dancing.

It’s not hard to picture the self-described “Madea” of her neighborhood kicking up her heels to celebrate. The woman who feeds everybody and has a door that’s always open is also a yearslong clinic fan.

She bought a house in Winston-Salem’s historically Black Boston-Thurmond community in 1997, shortly after Novant Health Today’s Woman OB/GYN clinic opened. As part of the clinic’s initial outreach efforts, the team distributed fliers throughout the neighborhood. Nelums, 51, got one – and soon became a patient.

“I was one of the first patients who ever walked in,” she said. In the years she’s been a patient, she’s built trusting relationships with doctors and other team members. “When I call, they know me,” Nelums said.

Nelums understands the importance of good health care. She worked as a certified nursing assistant (CNA) at Novant Health in 1999 and has spent most of her career working in area nursing homes.

Soon after Nelums became a patient, her three children began going to the adjacent Novant Health Today’s Pediatrics.

Nelums grew up in a large family and became matriarch of a large brood herself. Her 11 grandchildren, who range from 6 months to 13 years old – live close by and get their medical care at their neighborhood clinic, too.

And why wouldn’t they? Remarkable care has rarely been so convenient. “If you blink between my house and Today’s Woman, you’ll be there,” she said. “That’s how close it is.”

Every member of Nelums’ family is a patient – except for the men, she pointed out. Her husband and son haven’t been able to go, as the clinic has – until now – served exclusively women and children.

And the staff has done a terrific job serving those populations, Nelums said.

“They are helping young ladies become mothers” when the time comes, she said. She included her two daughters in that list. Parenting classes helped them both know what to expect before their babies arrived.

The clinic team finds it extraordinarily special that they’re starting to care for a second and even third generation of patients. “We’re starting to witness full-circle generational care at this neighborhood clinic,” said Nicole Brenner, senior director, Novant Health Women’s & Children’s Institute for the greater Winston-Salem market. “I’m truly touched when I hear stories about girls who grew up in this community and received care at this clinic, now back today as moms with their own children. Many of our team members have worked at these clinics for a long time, and they know these families. A special bond has formed over the years.”

Nelums calls the clinic “the best thing this community has ever had” and added, “The love from them is genuine. Their hearts are bigger than their bodies.”

Bringing primary care to a population that needs it

But May 22, when the remodeled and expanded space reopens, it will include a brand-new clinic for adults. And this marks the first time the facility has offered primary care services to men.

Nearly a year after crews broke ground at the corner of Today’s Woman Avenue and Burton Street, the clinic is ready to improve access to primary care services in an area that has a shortage of health care providers. Families like Sotonya Nelums’ can now all get health care at the same family-centered clinic.

That’s noteworthy because east Winston-Salem is a historically underserved area.

The expanded Novant Health Today's Clinics are the latest examples of the health care system’s commitment to supporting all aspects of health and wellness, including the social determinants of health. Those, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), include “the nonmedical factors that influence health outcomes” and may include economic policies, political systems, racism, even climate change.

“Not having access to primary care services can and often does lead to worse health outcomes down the road,” said Joyce Mounce, senior director, Novant Health Community Health & Wellness Institute for the greater Winston-Salem market at the June 2023 groundbreaking. “This new clinic will not only improve access to needed primary care services, but it will also allow families … to receive all their care in one convenient location.”

Bigger. And better.

The renovation has added an additional 2,745 square feet to the clinic. The exam room space has nearly doubled. And the clinic’s on-site community engagement center has been renovated and expanded to include a new multipurpose space.

It’s incredibly convenient for those who live in the neighborhood to have three clinics – for men, women and children – all co-located in the same place. All three offer health care to patients regardless of their ability to pay.

• Novant Health Today’s Woman OB/GYN provides obstetric and gynecologic services to women of all ages, maternity care, wellness exams and sick care Monday through Thursday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Friday, 8 a.m. to noon.
• Novant Health Today’s Pediatrics provides primary care services for children from birth to age 18. These services include well-child checkups, sick care, physical exams and services designed to prevent and treat childhood obesity. The clinic is open Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• Novant Health Today’s Adult Primary Care will provide comprehensive primary care services for patients 18 and over Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Since the beginning, the center’s staff has worked to eliminate barriers to health care. That can take the form of education about preventive health care, transportation assistance or connecting patients to community resources such as food pantries.

The once-thriving Boston-Thurmond neighborhood used to be “a draw for workers from Winston-Salem’s tobacco and textile factories,” according to NC Health News. “In the 1960s, University Parkway, a multilane expressway connecting downtown to the northern reaches of the city, was built right through the neighborhood.

“The corner stores that had been so essential started disappearing in the 1960s and ’70s. Supermarkets did not rise up … in their absence.” Boston-Thurmond essentially became a food desert. The community health workers within the clinic help patients connect to resources for fresh, healthy food.

“I don’t know of any other doctors’ offices that provide that kind of support,” Nelums said.

There aren’t many doctors’ offices that are as fully embedded in their community as the Today’s clinics. The renovation and expansion are designed to serve even more people in this neighborhood that was long neglected. Novant Health’s goal is to grow with the community, and to continue to provide accessible and holistic care for our patients close to home.

That’s the level of care Nelums and her neighbors have grown to depend on and appreciate. Over the years, Nelums has needed help with diapers, food and transportation to and from the clinic. Before she had a car, the clinic would transport Nelums and her children to and from their visits. Once, after she’d been bitten by a spider, she went to the clinic for treatment. The team member who saw her said she needed to get to the emergency room, and Nelums told them she didn’t have a car. The clinic paid for her cab fare.

She even credits the clinic with saving her life.

In 2010, she started having heavy bleeding during her periods. Jacqueline Davis, a nurse practitioner who still works at the clinic on an as-needed basis “did everything she could.” It turned out to be a two-pound tumor.

Nelums calls the clinics “great for the community” and said of the staff, “They put their heart into everything. This is a place of caring and going above and beyond. It’s helping people reach their goals. I trust my life to the people at the clinic.”

It has helped Nelums’ family for decades – and continues to help her, her children and the third generation of Nelumses.

So, when Sotonya Nelums – aka The Madea of Boston-Thurmound – dances at the clinic’s grand opening, it’ll be in celebration of all the clinic has meant to her and her family.