When cities develop economic and community development strategies, they often focus on attracting major employers, revitalizing neighborhoods, expanding housing or creating new destinations for commerce and entertainment.
Atlanta is doing all of those things.
From the Beltline to Centennial Yards, we are investing in projects that will help shape our city for generations to come. These investments matter, creating jobs, attracting talent and strengthening communities.
But as a physician and president and CEO of Morehouse School of Medicine, I believe there is another form of infrastructure that deserves equal attention: healthcare access.
More than 160 years ago, Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote, “The first wealth is health.” His words remain just as relevant today.
A city cannot reach its full economic potential if large segments of its population lack meaningful access to the healthcare resources necessary to live healthy lives. Unfortunately, for too many residents in Atlanta and south Fulton County, that remains the reality.
Atlanta, South Fulton Co. function as healthcare deserts
Credit: Morehouse School of Medicine
Credit: Morehouse School of Medicine
In 2023, Morehouse School of Medicine partnered with EY and Fulton County to examine healthcare access across our region.
The findings confirmed what many residents already knew: Significant portions of Atlanta and south Fulton function as healthcare deserts, where access to physicians, specialty care, diagnostics, behavioral health services and other essential healthcare services remains limited.
The closure of Atlanta Medical Center and Atlanta Medical Center South only intensified those challenges. When those facilities closed, we lost more than hospital beds. We lost an ecosystem of care.
Physicians relocated. Specialty services disappeared. Community access points diminished. Communities already experiencing significant health disparities found themselves even further removed from the care they needed.
The consequences are deeply personal for those impacted.
Pregnant women travel farther for prenatal care. Patients delay screenings and preventive services. Individuals experiencing mental health challenges struggle to find timely support. Chronic conditions such as high blood pressure and diabetes go unmanaged.
Healthy communities produce stronger workforces. Healthy children perform better in school. Healthy adults are more likely to remain employed, care for their families and contribute to the economic vitality of their neighborhoods.
Communities burdened by poor health outcomes face higher costs, lower productivity and greater barriers to long-term prosperity.
Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez
Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez
3 solutions to address community healthcare challenges
The solution to addressing the challenge is multifaceted.
Yes, first and foremost, we need another hospital as an essential part of the healthcare continuum. But hospitals alone do not create healthier communities. It is one component of a larger strategy centered on prevention, access and long-term community health.
The second, and equally important, component lies in building a comprehensive, integrated ambulatory healthcare network that meets people where they live, work, play and pray.
That means neighborhood-based primary care clinics. It means behavioral health services that are accessible and affordable. It means maternal health programs that support women before, during and after pregnancy. It means specialty care, imaging services, diagnostics, virtual care, community health workers and preventive health programs available closer to home.
This approach is better for patients, better for communities and better for healthcare affordability.
When high blood pressure is managed early, strokes can be prevented. When diabetes is controlled, costly complications can be avoided. When behavioral health needs are addressed, a potential health crisis can be averted. When mothers have consistent access to care, babies are born healthier and families are stronger.
And, finally, we must recognize healthcare providers cannot solve these challenges alone.
Success requires partnership among healthcare institutions, local governments, businesses, faith communities, schools and community organizations. It requires rebuilding trust in communities that have too often felt overlooked. And it requires recognizing that healthcare access is not simply a medical issue — it is a community development issue.
Atlanta has an opportunity to become a national model
Morehouse School of Medicine was founded more than 50 years ago to improve health outcomes, expand access to care and train physicians who would serve communities too often overlooked by the healthcare system.
There is no more important place to continue that mission than our hometown.
Atlanta has an opportunity to become a national model for what community-centered healthcare can look like in the 21st century — not simply by building new facilities, but by creating a healthcare ecosystem that expands access, advances prevention, strengthens communities and creates opportunity.
We stand ready to join city and county officials, healthcare providers, businesses, faith leaders and community organizations in delivering quality healthcare to all of our citizens.
Because Emerson was right. The first wealth is health.
And the health of Atlantans will ultimately determine the wealth of Atlanta.
Valerie Montgomery Rice, M.D., is president and CEO of Morehouse School of Medicine.
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