New building, same goal: West Charlotte’s C.W. Williams Community Health Center reopens

Along Wilkinson Boulevard on the border of the Ashley Park and Westerly Hill neighborhoods, there used to stand an old red brick building .

The more than 80-year-old structure was dark and dungeon-y but inside was a medical center built to serve a community in need of affordable health care. Now, the west Charlotte facility matches the desire to continue providing a healthier lifestyle for Charlotteans.

The C.W. Williams Community Health Center at 3333 Wilkinson Blvd. is reopening Tuesday after a 15-month reconstruction project.

It's a $13 million state-of-the-art facility that can provide new health services to more patients.

"Even though we are a health center, that does not mean that you should come to a dilapidated building," center CEO Debra Weeks said. "We really have grown... creating a safe space for people throughout Mecklenburg County, but particularly those who are marginalized. We have the history. We have the legacy of care.

"We'll continue this legacy that started 45 years ago and carry it through for the next 100 years."

A west Charlotte history lesson

The vision behind the center began long before its opening in 1981.

It started with Dr. Charles Warren Williams wanting to provide extraordinary care to all of his patients, especially in Black and under-served communities, according to family members and friends.

To begin that service, Williams opened the NorthWest Medical Office on Beatties Ford Road in the 1950s.

And in 1961, he became the first African-American surgeon on staff at Charlotte Memorial Hospital, now called the Atrium Health Carolinas Medical Center.

When he performed his first surgery, a Charlotte News reporter wrote, "Medically, it was a routine operation. Historically, it marked the first time such a thing had ever happened in any of the so-called 'white hospitals' in Charlotte."

That event was controversial. Williams was censured by other Black physicians for accepting a partial membership into the North Carolina Medical Society, a position other Black medical workers were fighting against.

The partial membership was the society's way of keeping Black physicians in a lowered status. But Williams previously told The Charlotte Observer that the move "offered me a stepping stone to what I wanted — better care for my patients."

That care extended past medicine.

In 1962, Williams, along with his first wife Vivian Lewie Williams and Dr. Walter Washington, developed Hyde Park Estates, a neighborhood focused on African American homeownership .

In the 1970s, Williams, joined famed attorney Julius Chambers and Charlotte's first Black mayor Harvey Gantt in opening East Independence Center, or Walton Plaza, one of the first office buildings owned and developed by Black businessmen, according to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Historic Landmarks Commission .

There, he set up another medical office. But Williams still envisioned opening a facility where patients could get all of their medical needs met regardless of income.

"There were no wraparound services back then," said Pamela Williams-Coote, Williams' daughter. "What he wanted, his vision, was to have a medical practice that offered more than just medical services. He wanted dental. He wanted pharmaceuticals. He wanted social services... for the people who couldn't access that."

In 1981, Williams finally got the go-ahead to open the first federally qualified community health center in Mecklenburg County. The status means the center is mainly funded by federal dollars.

AT the time, it was called the Metrolina Comprehensive Health Center and was also founded by Dr. John Murphy, a local dentist, Rowe "Jack" Motley, the first African American elected to the Mecklenburg County Commission, and Ivestia "Peggy" Beckwith, who helped establish the Mecklenburg County Sickle Cell program .

But before the doors officially opened, Williams died.

C.W. Williams center moves forward

While Williams was not able to see the center open, his ideologies steered the facility forward.

"He was the type of person who liked to help people," said Dr. Wesley Clement, an ophthalmologist and friend of Williams. "That was his life, helping people and he enjoyed it up until the day he passed."

The center focuses on serving low-income patients, offering a one-stop-facility for general visits and pharmacy pickups. It's essential especially for westside residents.

And the center has grown since its inception. There's two additional facilities at 5800 Old Pineville Road and 800 Clanton Road, along with a slew of mobile services, bringing care to patients' front door.

The Wilkinson Boulevard site is in a section of west Charlotte that has been designated as a "medically under-served area," a "dental health professional shortage area" and a Mecklenburg County Public Health Priority Area, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

About 60% of the center's patients live below the federal poverty level, according to the facility. About 38% are uninsured and 22% are on Medicaid.

The center serves about 13,000 patients annually, and this population is who Williams was trying to reach.

"Sometimes people can't pay and that didn't matter to him," Williams-Coote said. "He wasn't bound by the monetary payment for his services."

Financial troubles at the CW Williams Center

While the center was created to assist those in need, it hasn't avoided hard times.

In 2014, it was deep in financial trouble . The facility laid off about half its staff, The Charlotte Observer reported. It was also delaying payment to employees and vendors.

Facility hours were reduced and the center's satellite clinic on East Boulevard closed. Patients began to complain about poor services and the inability to refill medication.

Mecklenburg County commissioners withheld funding and a proposed bailout, telling the center it needed to meet multiple conditions including reorganizing for long-term stability. Then, the center filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2014.

In 2015, Weeks came on to help stabilize the center. Things slowly began to turn around . The center satisfied its bankruptcy requirements and county commissioners released its funding and bailout money to the facility.

But last year, WBTV reported that the center was under investigation by the FBI and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General for fraud and financial mismanagement.

It's unclear whether the center is still being investigated. Weeks denies the allegations.

"We did not get a report or an investigation from the FBI or the (Office of Inspector General.) That is blatantly false," Weeks said. "We've had all types of regular ongoing site visits that have lauded us as excellent servers of federal funding...The negative word passes along faster and holds on dearer than the positive but C.W. Williams Community Health Center is not going anywhere."

The center's past audits have found "material weaknesses" in the facilities financial controls and "significant deficiencies" in its financial reporting and record-keeping.

But in the center's recent audit from March 2023, no deficiencies were found.

New digs and new services at CW Williams

Weeks previously told the Observer that the center was using about 9,000 square feet of the building's 14,000 because of storage and leaking water.

The new building is now 17,000 square feet.

Each department has its own waiting area, a big change according to Weeks, who said the old center had patients for all services sitting near each other.

When patients enter, they're met with a large and open welcome center and the primary care suites. There's also a case management suite where patients can discuss long-term treatment. It's essential for the center's growing HIV specialty department.

Mecklenburg County has one of the highest HIV infection rates in the state and nationwide. Last year, the county was identified as a priority jurisdiction in the National Strategy to End the HIV Epidemic in the United States.

The center sees about 200 diagnosed patients, according to Dr. Edana Holliday, the facility's pharmacy doctor.

Some new features on the first floor include a drive-through for its pharmacy, where patients can get discounted medication, a tele-health room for virtual visits and a procedure room for small surgeries.

On the second floor, the dental center is back but with six chairs instead of the previous three. Holistic care options such as acupuncture are also still being offered at the site.

Then there's the new maternal and pediatric wings, along with an expanded behavioral health department. Both are areas of concern for the county .

The county is seeing high rates of depression, suicide ideations and attempts, according to the 2024 State of the County Health Report . The county has also not met its goals to decrease maternal and infant mortality rates.

"Maternal health is dwindling, especially in black and brown communities," said Weeks. "It's becoming worse and deaths are increasing. Unnecessary deaths."

Weeks echoed the sentiment when it comes to increasing the center's mental health work.

"We're recognizing that the community needs our support services to address some of those social determinants of health that really do impact our bodies, our minds, our spirit," Weeks said.

Another new addition for the center is its nutrition kitchen where residents can come and learn to cook healthier. Weeks said one goal is to have a community garden, where the center can grow vegetables and herbs.

"We're people of color. We love tasty food, but we want everyone to have tasty food prepared in a much more healthy way for themselves and their children," Weeks said.

Opening celebration in west Charlotte

Last Thursday, the center hosted a formal ribbon-cutting ceremony and provided guided tours of the facility. Community leaders and elected representatives gathered to speak, including Congresswoman Alma Adams, who helped secure funding for the new facility, as well as Mecklenburg County Commissioner Vilma Leake and At-Large City Councilwoman LaWana Mayfield.

On Monday, the center will host a family fun day, inviting community members to see the new building. And on Tuesday, the center will officially re-open for patients.

"We wanted to create the best and now we have," Weeks said. "We want you to come in and feel good."