There is something special set to happen this weekend, and its called the Front Porch Festival. The festival is dedicated to Dr. Anthony Jordan. Dr. Janice Harbin, who is President of Jordan Health, stopped by our studio.
Anthony L. Jordan Health Center (AJHC) was born out of a demand from one Rochester community to provide neighborhood-based healthcare that was affordable and accessible to all. The action and advocacy of dedicated citizens, in partnership with vital community-based organizations, led to the establishment of the center, originally named the Rochester Neighborhood Health Center, in 1968. After the nation declared a War on Poverty, FQHCs were established to address health disparities.
Each of our comprehensive health centers share a rich civic legacy. We took time on July 30, 2016 to celebrate our history and legacy by transforming our annual health fair into the first Front Porch Festival.
Anthony L. Jordan Health Center AJHC was the first FQHC to require their governing board of directors to be at least 51 percent users of the centers health services, to ensure the health center was effectively meeting the needs of its community. This governance structure now is the mandated board composition for more than 1,200 FQHCs now serving communities across the United States.
The Jordan Health mission is to provide community-based comprehensive healthcare of the highest quality with dignity and respect to all regardless of ability to pay.Our organization is named in honor of Anthony L. Jordan, M.D. (1892-1971), the second African-American doctor in Rochester, N.Y. He was also known as the doctor who would come and lived the philosophy at the heart of our mission. A primary care physician serving patients out of his Adam Street home, Dr. Jordan accepted barter for his services from patients who insisted on payment, and maderegular house calls in an effort to provide the vital healthcare services he felt each person deserved.
Sharing this civic mission, the Rochester Neighborhood Health Center dedicated their new center to Dr. Jordan in 1973. The Jordan family remains an integral part of the health centers advocacy and fundraising.
Dr. Woodward held roles as the University of Rochester associate dean for minority affairs, professor of pediatrics at Strong Memorial, executive director for Rochester Health Network and Rochester Neighborhood Health Center, professor at the University of Nebraska Medical School, and director of pediatric education at Highland Hospital. Dr. Woodward notably played a large role in building AJHC, Northeast Health Center, Genesee Health Service and Westside Health Centers.
Woodward Health Center and Brown Square Health Center, once part of the former Westside Health Services, joined Jordan Health in 2011. Woodward Health Center has been in southwest Rochesters historic 19th Ward since its inception in 1973. Originally located on Millbank Street, it moved to its present location at 480 Genesee St., and was renamed in honor of Dr. Woodward. Today, it reminds our community that we have a vibrant healthcare legacy based on compassionate healthcare for all. Woodward Health Center emerged at the same time as Anthony L. Jordan Health Center.
Named for the historic Brown Square area in northwest Rochester, Brown Square Health Center, established in 1973, was originally housed in the old Empire Mall on Lyell Avenue and moved across the street to the bank building at 175 Lyell Ave. around 1985. In 2005, the center moved to its current location at 322 Lake Ave.
Today, Jordan Health is a dedicated team of healthcare and human services professionals in a network of primary care offices and health centers. Jordan Health continues the legacy of serving diverse communities unbounded by race, ethnicity or geography. We are uniquely positioned to serve a population challenged by limited resources and complex health conditions often associated with being economically disadvantaged and medically underserved.