IN THE COUNTY LEGISLATURE OF JACKSON COUNTY, MISSOURI
Title
A RESOLUTION recognizing Samuel U. Rodgers Health Center on the occasion of its Founders Day event as part of National Health Center Week.
Intro
RESOLUTION NO. 19949, August 13, 2018
INTRODUCED BY Alfred Jordan, Scott Burnett, Garry J. Baker, Crystal Williams, Tony Miller, Dennis Waits, Dan Tarwater III, Greg Grounds, and Theresa Galvin, County Legislators
Body
WHEREAS, Samuel U. Rodgers Health Center will kick off National Health Center Week with a visit and tour by Congressman Emanuel Cleaver II on Monday, August 13, 2018, followed by a special Founders Day event on Friday, August 17, 2018; and,
WHEREAS, Congressman Cleaver’s visit helps draw attention to the impact the Health Center has made for patients in Kansas City and across the nation; and,
WHEREAS, the late Dr. Rodgers built a system designed to provide better care for the poor and disenfranchised within our community; and,
WHEREAS, on Friday, August 17, Samuel U. Rodgers Health Center will unveil the honorarily renamed Samuel U. Rodgers Avenue, and officially open its newly-dedicated community rooms that commemorate Wayne Miner with a ribbon-cutting event; and,
WHEREAS, Dr. Rodgers was the first board certified, African-American OB/GYN in the country, having served as a powerful voice in the civil rights movement in Kansas City; and,
WHEREAS, Dr. Rodgers opened the nation’s first medical practice made up entirely of African-American providers, launched the nation’s first community health center west of the Mississippi River in the Wayne Miner Housing Project, and helped build the Federally Qualified Health Center system; and,
WHEREAS, Wayne Miner, an African-American serviceman from Kansas City, was among the last American soldiers to be killed in action during World War I; and,
WHEREAS, to keep his legacy alive and teach new generations about his bravery, the Health Center’s community rooms will be renamed Wayne Miner Community Room A and B; and,
WHEREAS, Dr. Rodgers continues to serve as a lasting reminder of how one man can make a difference through his courage to fight for justice for minorities and the less fortunate in the face of segregation, racial division, and rampant inequality; now therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED by the County Legislature of Jackson County, Missouri, that the Legislature hereby recognizes the contributions of Dr. Samuel U. Rodgers and the Health Center he founded on the occasion of its Founders Day celebration, as part of National Health Center Week.
Enacted and Approved
Effective Date: This Resolution shall be effective immediately upon its passage by a majority of the Legislature.
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
____________________________ ______________________________
Chief Deputy County Counselor County Counselor
Certificate of Passage
I hereby certify that the attached resolution, Resolution No. 19949 of August 13, 2018, was duly passed on August 13, 2018 by the Jackson County Legislature. The votes thereon were as follows:
Yeas _______9________ Nays ______0________
Abstaining ____0_____ Absent _____0_______
________________________ ____________________________
Date Mary Jo Spino, Clerk of Legislature