After decades of service, St. Mary Health Center asked to leave current location

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — A community health and dental clinic in Wilmington faces an uncertain future after the church where it’s located told the clinic they have to go. 

For decades, the St. Mary Health Center has offered several services to those who can’t afford insurance, including emergency dental surgery. 

But in April, the Basilica of St. Mary sent Executive Director Laura Vinson a letter saying they had 60 days to leave the premises.  The basilica then extended that deadline until July 1, but staff say they need more time to relocate.  

Vinson said she feels some of the officials who oversee the catholic school are ready to see them go. 

“It is really sad to hear the school principal refer to our patients as unsavory folks, unsavory people. Because those are my people. Those are the people that I wake up for, and come to work, and those are the people that I advocate for, and have been for 16 years,” Vinson said. 

Vinson added the clinic also serves as a proving ground for the next generation of healthcare providers.  

“Kids that are interested in biology majors that want to pursue a career in dentistry, medicine, nursing, PA school, they all come to us and we do internships,” Vinson explained. 

Volunteer Susan Lowe said one of the biggest challenges in relocating is moving specialty medical equipment.  

“Just an X-ray machine for instance, it has to be checked up by the state. When you move it, if we store it, when it’s put back in place it has to be recalibrated and made sure it’s safe,” Lowe said. 

Lowe said the clinic also has more than 30,000 individual patient records that will need to be moved. She added that moving forward, she hopes the clinic will be able to continue its mission, wherever that may be. 

“Everybody is so thankful and grateful and nice when they come in here. I just feel it’s a worthwhile thing to do,” Lowe said. 

WWAY reached out to the Basilica of St. Mary. They told us to contact the Diocese of Raleigh, but we have not heard back at this time.