Black-owned women’s health center is making it their mission to make sure patients feel seen and heard

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The founders of Life Tree Women Care says it’s the first black owned women’s health center in Jacksonville’s Westside and it’s one of a kind.

“This practice is owned and ran by my husband and myself who are business and a nurse practitioner midwife, so that’s what makes us different because most practices are started by physicians,” said Jamie Neal, nurse and co founder. 

Neal says their first year of operation, the clinic has provided hundreds of patients with primary care, gynecological care, and wellness exams.

Between prenatal/postnatal care, hospital births, and newborn care, the women’s clinic has also helped welcome over a dozen babies into the world.

“We are doing a lot better than we expected with over 400 patients on our database and over 70 women are pregnant in our care so we are very proud of that,” said Neal. 

According to the CDC in 2020, the maternal mortality rate for black women was 55.3 deaths per 100,000 live births, 2.9 times the rate for white women.

Neal says a reason for these high rate is not having the access to care.

“Unfortunately, I think that there are a lot of parts to that puzzle that need to be adjusted and fix but we can just take one women at a time and just make sure that every patient is being listened to and nothing is being ignored and that I’m dotting every I and crossing every T to keep our women safe,” said Neal. 

Neal says she is urging healthcare providers to take time to listen to their patients and joining her to be a part of the solution instead of adding to the problem.