In the first of a three-part series, The Way Medical Clinic is pushing forward despite the challenges of COVID-19 and the economic slowdown that came with it. This week, a concerned resident donated a 5,100-square-foot building across from St. Johns River State College for a second location. Next week, a new program called ClayPass is an initiative for uninsured residents, and the series will conclude with a program by The Way and Chamber of Commerce to provide medical care to uninsured businesses in the county.

ORANGE PARK – College Drive will soon be home to the first medical clinic owned by The Way Free Medical Clinic.
The Way is a not-for-profit organization that’s provided basic medical care and some specialty care to low income and uninsured residents in Clay County for the past 15 years. The organization has called an old church home for about 12 years, but after an anonymous donation, it will soon open the first clinic it’s ever owned.
“I went through a series of doubts and I was constantly pinching myself in case I was dreaming,” The Way executive director Don Fann said. “This has been an issue for the clinic – not having a permanent home for the 15 years since our inception – and I think all of the events surrounding the donation of this building and the planning process has been divinely inspired. It’s been incredibly easy and everyone in the process has been beyond supportive.”
The Way currently works out of an old Church of Christ building located at 479 Houston St. in Green Cove Springs, but the building isn’t owned by the organization. This building is owned by the county and The Way is able to work there for free. Fann said that’s been a blessing, but that when the county determines other plans for the building, The Way will have to relocate.
He said The Way will remain in the vicinity of Green Cove Springs though as it serves as the southern operation for the county. The new College Drive location will act as the northern hub to expand and more than double the organization’s operations. Fann said this new building will provide new levels of safety the church building simply cannot.
“The design of this new building will dramatically improve the way we treat patients and dramatically decrease the risk of airborne disease infection,” Fann said. “The building we have now is a church. You come in the front door of the sanctuary, which is our waiting room, sign in and register, you’re seen in a different part of the church, and then you exit the same way you came in. It’s a circuit of sorts, which works great, but this new building will allow for better safety precautions in that regard.”
The Way Medical Clinic provides free medical care to uninsured and low-income county residents. It operates completely by donated funds with volunteers, including doctors, nurse and staff.
Fann said he hopes to have an outdoor waiting area at the College Drive location as well. The new 5,100 square foot property was donated anonymously during the summer and The Way has been hard at work since. It’s currently demolishing the guts of the building to accommodate the organization’s design plans.
“Using lessons from the [COVID-19] pandemic and other clinics, we are incorporating designs to improve patient flow and increase treatment capabilities while decreasing infection risk,” Fann said. “We will build a center that improves the experience of our patients, staff, and volunteers.”
It’s also being built to accommodate an expected flow of nursing interns. With St. Johns River State College right across the street from this new clinic, The Way hopes to offer students in the college’s nursing program internships. They’ll be able to walk across the street after school to work as an intern, Fann said.
While the clinic’s renovation is already underway, The Way is looking for community help. The Way will hold a virtual groundbreaking event on Friday, Feb. 26, from 6-7 p.m. to launch the Expanding Capacity to Care campaign. The campaign hopes to raise $2 million for facility renovations and operating support. Fann said The Way has already raised more than $800,000 of this $2 million goal, and he hopes to close the gap next year.
The campaign is called Expanding Capacity to Care because that’s what the second clinic will do for the county. The Green Cove Springs clinic currently serves about 1,000 individual patients each year with more than 3,000 medical visits.
Fann said The Way expects this number to double almost immediately when the second clinic opens and new county-integrated programs will increase those numbers further.
“It’s an exciting time for The Way and we’re so excited to further our care for the county,” he said.