When family nurse practitioner Jasmin Carey joined the Michael Jordan Family Medical Clinic in September, she knew she wasn’t just starting a new job — she was joining a community cornerstone.
As the newest member of the care team at the Wilmington East location, she’s helping the clinic expand its reach, deepen relationships and ensure that more community members who have struggled to access healthcare can receive the support they need.
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A healing place born from a community’s needs
The Michael Jordan Family Medical Clinics, funded by donations from Wilmington native Michael Jordan himself, were created to close long-standing gaps in access to care. The Wilmington East location, located next to the Creekwood South community, is the second Wilmington clinic location and opened in February 2025.
Both clinics, as well as two in Charlotte, opened their doors with a promise: to bring care closer to home, remove the barriers that keep families from getting the healthcare they deserve and provide care that fits their lives.
During her first two months at the clinic, Carey established relationships with 152 patients, about 75% of whom are Medicaid-insured. She said in many instances, patients have told her this is their first time connecting with a primary care provider for preventive care; they’ve been using urgent care for emergencies. Or in some cases, they weren’t receiving medical care at all.
“Just by being here, and them knowing this clinic was established for them, that’s a great benefit for this community,” Carey said. “They have somewhere to go to receive the care that they need.”
While Carey helps patients with immediate needs, like a cough or the flu, most of the people she meets need help with chronic conditions, like high blood pressure and Type 2 diabetes. Carey said she also sees many individuals with anxiety, depression and/or bipolar disorder.
“Mental health is physical health,” she said. “They're essentially one in the same. And if one or the other goes untreated, that just exacerbates whatever conditions are present.”
Breaking barriers, one patient at a time
At the Michael Jordan clinics, “Simply getting a patient to a doctor’s office and prescribing them a medication is not where it stops,” Carey said.
All Novant Health primary care clinics complete a screening to identify barriers to healthcare including financial instability, transportation issues and food insecurity. At the Michael Jordan clinics, they have the additional resource of an on-site social worker who connects patients with resources like food vouchers, or may refer patients to Novant Health’s community health workers for further assistance. The clinic team also helps patients obtain medications for a low price.
Carey, a Florida native who came to Wilmington by way of Durham, initially thought she would be a pharmacist. But as she learned more about healthcare access inequalities in the United States, particularly in Black and low-income communities, it inspired her passion for public health and preventive health care. These communities deserve better, Carey said.
“I feel privileged to be in the role that I’m in to help these communities improve their well-being,” she said. “We find a way to meet the patients where they are and let them know that even if it feels like the world has given up on them, that's not the case, because we come here every day to help them.”
Carey describes this level of care – wholly supporting each person’s well-being – as something that has always been innate for her.
“It’s a partnership, and that’s what I try to emphasize to my patients,” Carey said. “I am here to help them make the lifestyle changes they need and to provide them with the education so they can feel more empowered.”
