Gov. Ivey tours medical program in Camden that brings UAB residents to underserved Black Belt

Gov. Kay Ivey returned to her hometown Monday to see how a program is providing medical care to underserved Wilcox and Perry counties.  

Ivey visited Cahaba Medical Care Camden, which is participating in the Frontier Tracks Program for the second year. CEO John Waits said that today four new physicians were being welcomed to Cahaba Medical Care, a nonprofit community health center and federally qualified health clinic headquartered in Bibb County. 

“We take care of all ages and all insurance types, including those with no insurance,” Waits said. He said there are 26 locations in seven counties including Wilcox County. Cahaba Medical Care is working in partnership with J. Paul Jones Hospital and alongside Dr. Sumter Blackmon, who Ivey said “almost single handedly safeguarded medical care in Wilcox County.” 

Recognizing a shortage of health care professionals in rural Alabama and in Wilcox and Perry counties in particular, Cahaba Medical has teamed up with UAB Family Medicine Residency to bring four family medicine residents in full-time training to the Black Belt. Waits said that residents going through the Frontiers program spend their first year in the Cahaba Medical Clinic in Bessemer before spending their second and third years in Wilcox and Perry counties.  

In July 2024, four more residents will come to work in Wilcox and Perry counties. “We’re taking significant steps to bridging the health care gap in underserved areas,” Waits said. 

Waits thanked Ivey for her support, and he acknowledged the funding recently approved under her leadership “marked significant strides in the health landscape of rural economic progression in each county in the Black Belt.”  

Waits introduced Wilcox and Perry County staff Dr. Shirin Amlani, Wilcox County native and Nurse Practitioner Felicia Williams, Dietitian Kelsey Hendrix and staff members Chrishonda Irby and Amanda Cotton.  

Ivey also visited with students at J.E. Hobbs Elementary School and ABC Elementary School in Alberta. Both schools are part of the Governor’s Turnaround Schools Initiative, a program designed to transform low-performing schools and the surrounding communities.  

The Governor’s message to the students at the schools was the importance of reading. “Reading is the most critical skill to achieving success,” Ivey said. “Strong students make a strong Alabama.” 

Ivey gave the students a book on how food gets from the farm to the table.