The $10 million center will include general practitioner services, along with other things like dental care and a pharmacy.
The center will also work with residents to provide care, regardless of financial barriers, said Dr. James Coleman, CEO of G.A. Carmichael Family Health.
"With this being a federally-qualified community health center to serve persons within this area — with no income, low income, insurance, no insurance — speaks volumes as it relates to what this building represents," Coleman said.
Humphreys County Circuit Clerk Marvin Jones, at the ribbon cutting on Monday, lauded the center as opening doors for other parts of the Delta, too.
"It not only benefits Yazoo County, Yazoo City, it actually opens the eyes for the opportunities that's possible for the surrounding counties: especially Humphreys County, being an area that the healthcare gap is real wide," said Jones.
Coleman told MPB News that G.A. Carmichael is planning other projects in the region to close those gaps in surrounding counties.
"We are also doing some work with the Humphreys County Board of Supervisors to develop an urgent care center in Belzoni," Coleman said. "We've also just gotten contract from Mississippi Valley State to provide health care services on their campus, as well as Holmes Community College in Goodman, Mississippi."
Yazoo City mayor Macklyn Austin said he's excited for the center not just for the healthcare resources for residents, but as a step in continued investment in the city.
"We have been waiting for some good economic development to hit Yazoo City," Austin said. "By this center coming here, it's just opening the doors and laying the pave way for more economic development."
The center is being named after Congressman Bennie Thompson, who highlighted the need for federal investment in healthcare, especially as things like changes to the Affordable Care Act exacerbate the cost of medical care.
