June 23, 2010
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Cincinnati NAACP
Media Release
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The West End Community Health Center is closing July 1, 2010.  The Cincinnati NAACP was informed 24-hours ago of the crisis.   The Cincinnati NAACP spent the last 24-hours gathering as many facts as possible surrounding the crisis of the health center closing.  The health center serves 5,000 people.  The center is located in the heart of the African American Community with the majority of their patients being African American.  William Mallory Sr. is one of the founders of the health center.  The West End Community Health Center needs $500,000 to keep their doors open. The West End Community Health Center has applied to the Hamilton County Indigent Fund for the $500,000.  "There is health care money in the City of Cincinnati and the County to save the West End Community Health Center," Christopher Smitherman, President of the Cincinnati NAACP says. 
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The Cincinnati NAACP is willing to provide the leadership in saving the West End Community Health Center.  However, the City of Cincinnati and the County must provide the $500,000 in funding as an emergency or the center will close on July 1, 2010.  The Cincinnati NAACP must have the full cooperation of the city and the county to save the health center.  The $500,000 would keep the center open until January 1, 2011.  However, with solid leadership the health center can be saved.  All patients of the West End Community Health Center must understand that their health records could be compromised with a disorderly closing of the health center.  The Cincinnati NAACP has communicated that health centers would close and it looks like the West End Community Health Center could be the first to fall.  "This is a health crisis of the greatest magnitude.  I predict that the majority of patients are African American women and children.  The Health Gap in the African American community is exploding with very little response from the health care industry," Smitherman says.