OLM Wellness Center gets new, larger home

A decade ago, a double-wide trailer opened its door on a wooded Johns Island lot. Volunteers and staff began offering dental services and prenatal care to a few hundred people a year.

The patient load grew to 5,000 per year, said Sister Mary Joseph Ritter, executive director of Our Lady of Mercy Community Outreach Services on Brownswood Road. "The trailer was busting at the seams," she said.

Our Lady of Mercy's Wellness Center's new 5,000-square-foot facility opened to patients in mid-November. The old trailer was hauled away. "We waved 'goodbye,' " said Annette Maranville, center coordinator.

The Wellness Center's services are free to residents of Johns, James and Wadmalaw islands who do not qualify for Medicaid.

Dental exam rooms doubled to four and medical exam rooms tripled to three, in addition to a medical work-up room and education room.

John P. Howard, dental director, said, "The expanded space and upgraded technology will allow more treatments for more patients and also attract volunteers. We want providers to come."

Half a dozen retired dentists staff the dental clinic. Dental students from Medical University of South Carolina's College of Dental Medicine, along with community dentists, run an emergency clinic Tuesday nights for anyone in pain. Those who do not live in the center's region will be referred for follow-up care.

"Our mission is to connect those who need help to those who want to help," said Griff Hogan, director of development for the larger outreach. "There's a lot of poverty next to those who can help."

Prenatal and women's care is provided by two volunteer obstetrician-gynecologists. MUSC covers the center's malpractice insurance, while Roper St. Francis Healthcare helps with ultrasounds and lab work, Maranville said.

The Wellness Center is one of three prongs of a larger operation known as Our Lady of Mercy Community Outreach Services, which also offers direct assistance, in the form of food, clothing and financial help, and education, such as English as a second language and parenting courses.

A capital campaign raised $4.6 million for the Wellness Center and an endowment to fund operations. Half a million dollars came from The Kresge Foundation and was matched by The Spaulding-Paolozzi Foundation.

A $770,000 Duke Endowment, in addition to the $4.6 million, allowed the Wellness Center to open in advance of the endowment becoming operational in 2011.

"It's a story of one good thing happening after another," Hogan said.

Reach Jill Coley at 937-5719 or jcoley@postandcourier.com.