Michael Jordan’s $7 million health care donation has made Charlotte residents very happy

When 47-year-old Carla Ford-Johnson was raising her three sons, access to medical care was not an issue for her. She and her husband at the time were both employed and had health insurance. But now, although she does not have small children, the Charlotte, North Carolina, resident has concerns about today’s health care crisis.

Over the years, she’s noticed the services that Novant Clinics in Charlotte have been providing to the community. So when she learned of the recent donation from Charlotte Hornets owner and NBA great Michael Jordan, she was excited.

Last week, Jordan announced his largest philanthropic donation. He is donating $7 million to launch medical clinics in Charlotte, and he hopes it will help at-risk communities in the community. Johnson says it’s right on time.

“It’s a positive move for bettering black communities,” she said. “It’s hard for a lot of families since Obamacare is in the process of being shut down, and this will help. It will also help encourage families to continue to seek solid health care.”

Jordan’s donation addresses a community need for access to affordable health care. The clinic sites are projected to care for nearly 35,000 children and adults who do not currently have access to primary and preventive care or who use the emergency room for nonurgent medical needs.

The donation can also help decrease the number of health disparities and will also go toward two Novant Health Michael Jordan Family Clinics, which are due to open in 2020. According to a release from Novant, the clinics will provide an avenue to affordable, high-quality care — including behavioral health, physical therapy, social work, oral health and family planning — to individuals in the community who have little or no health care.

“Through my years of working with Novant Health, I have been impressed with their approach and their commitment to the community,” Jordan, a North Carolina native, said in a release Monday. “It is my hope that these clinics will help provide a brighter and healthier future for the children and families they serve.”

Jordan’s spokeswoman Estee Portnoy told The Associated Press on Monday that the Hornets owner “feels so great about being able to impact the Charlotte community and help people who really deserve it. Michael and Novant are really excited about this project.”

Portnoy said Jordan, 54, was motivated by a study that found poor children in Charlotte have the worst odds of those of any of the top 50 cities in the United States to lift themselves out of poverty.

The clinics can likely decrease emergency room visits by 68 percent and decrease hospitalization by 37 percent for the residents of these neighborhoods, according to Novant.

“This gift will transform the lives of thousands of families and children living in poverty-stricken communities,” said Carl Armato, president and CEO of Novant Health. “We are thankful to Michael for his generosity. The gift will remove barriers to high-quality health care in some of the most vulnerable communities.”