Women of the Big Bend area can get ready for a safe haven when it comes to their health.
The Jasmine Women’s Center is open now for appointments and walk-ins, but it will have its official open house Feb. 21.
Since opening Nov. 1, the women’s center has been averaging five or six new patients daily from different backgrounds, ranging from ages 18 to 45.
According to its website, the center is a new OB/GYN office created to meet the needs of women through community outreach, advocacy and teaching. Its mission is to provide comprehensive, patient-focused obstetric and gynecologic care to women of the Big Bend community.
Dr. Acquinonette Bryant, head gynecologist at the women’s center, saw a need to bring about change in the community because of Tallahassee’s alarming rise in infant mortality.
According to the Leon County Health Department, the infant mortality rate for African-American babies is 3.5 percent higher than that of Caucasian babies.
Bryant found these high infant mortality rates alarming because, statistically, African-American babies tend to do better in neonatal care.
“In the four years while I completed my residency at Duke University, I only saw two babies die,” Bryant said.
She wanted to create an atmosphere for women where they felt like someone else cared as much about their health as they did.
“Once I know what’s going on, I’ll know what we’re going to do as soon as you walk through the door,” Bryant said.
Brandon Mickens, marketing director for the Jasmine Women’s Center, has nothing but good things to say about the head doctor.
“She’s easy to talk to and she wants to help as much as she can,” Mickens said.
According to Mickens, this women’s center differs from others in that it’s designed to cater to the working woman. It offers appointments as late as 7 p.m. and on the weekends.
Ashlee Hinson, a fourth-year biology student at Florida A&M, said she looks forward to going to the center.
“I often have a hard time scheduling doctors’ appointments between school and work, so I can’t wait to see what it would be like to go on a Saturday morning,” Hinson said.
Another more noticeable difference is Bryant’s investment in state of the art equipment. An example of that investment are the patient portals, which allow for labs to be uploaded onto a secure site that is safe and confines with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, which protects the privacy of individually identifiable health information.
These portals allow for safe review of a patient’s lab results. With technology rapidly taking over the field of medicine, patient portals are another way for doctors to stay abreast of the technology curve.