Media Release

ALACHUA COUNTY, FL - The Alachua County Board of County Commissioners (BoCC), the Southwest Advocacy Group (SWAG), and the Florida Department of Health in Alachua County (FDOH-Alachua) are pleased to announce the Ribbon Cutting for the SW Health Clinic. The event is on March 16, 2015, beginning at 11 a.m., at the SW Health Clinic (816 SW 64th Terrace, Gainesville), and features speakers and a guided tour of the facility. The public is invited and encouraged to attend. Refreshments will be served.

SWAG and the BoCC have worked together since 2010, when the two entities, along with Partnership for Strong Families, created the SWAG Family Resource Center.  The SW Health Clinic started began to move forward in August 2012, when the County and SWAG joined with the FDOH-Alachua, who received a $300,000 operational grant from the Florida Blue Foundation. The BoCC allocated $190,000 to renovate a building that it had purchased for a future clinic in the southwest community. The project received a $60,000 Rotary Wild Game Feast grant, and raised an additional $73,000 for the renovation efforts.  Additionally, in kind donations from the Martin Kids Dental Health Team, and Charles Perry Partners, Inc. made the project possible. 

Renovations on the SW Health Clinic started in the fall of 2014, and were completed at the end of February, 2015.  The clinic will contain five doctor general exam rooms, a rash exam room with exterior door access, as well as four dental exam rooms.  It will provide an assortment of public health services, including programs focused on disease control, children’s health, WIC, Florida birth certificates, adult health and increasing dental capacity.

Dr. Lee Niblock, Alachua County Manager says, "The County's relationship with SWAG has been a great example of public/private partnerships at their most effective. Following the success of the SWAG Family Resource Center, the County is proud to be a partner in the SW Health Clinic, which will provide much needed health services to our citizens in this area."

"This clinic will be such a blessing to so many people in the SWAG neighborhoods," says Dorothy Thomas, SWAG Special Projects and Fundraising Chair.  "Everyone deserves the chance to be healthy.  This clinic will create access to the services that people need to make that happen."

“This collaboration and partnership is consistent with the Florida Department of Health’s mission to promote, protect and improve the health of all people in Florida,” stated Paul Myers, Administrator of the Florida Department of Health in Alachua County.

SWAG is a community-based organization that strives to improve living conditions, educational opportunities, and quality of life for residents in the Tower Road corridor just west of I-75 in the 32607 zip code.

Learn more about SWAG.

Learn more about FDOH-Alachua.

Learn more about the Rotary Clubs of Gainesville Foundation.

View a complete list of the Renovation Partners.

For more information, contact the Alachua County Communications Office at 352-374-5204.