INDIANAPOLIS (WTHR) – Former NBC "Today Show" anchor and Indianapolis native Jane Pauley was back home in Indiana Tuesday for the grand opening of another community health center that bears her name.
“A community health center like this represents is pretty darn unique,” said Pauley to a crowd gathered in the parking lot of the Shadeland Station strip mall for a ribbon cutting ceremony.
Pauley is also unique, the first female local television news anchor in Indianapolis who went on to national news success. She is now the host of “CBS Sunday Morning."
The Warren Central High School graduate made news at 75th Street and Shadeland Avenue with the grand opening of the latest Jane Pauley Community Health Center in a former Marsh grocery store.
The center provides health care to anyone, insurance or not.
"We serve an underserved population,” said Dr. Sharon McNeany, Director of Integrated Behavioral Health. “So sometimes our patients have nowhere else to go for medical or behavioral health or dental services."
"When the Community Hospital Network reaches out into neighborhoods over and over again, they are reaching into pockets of communities that don't have ready access to a doctor,” said Pauley.
Medical assistant Melissa Jaer gave visitors the grand tour, showing off brand new exam rooms.
"We all have big hearts,” said Jaer. “We're all here for the community. We don't turn anyone away, not at all. If you don't have insurance, it's not a big deal."
The center has actually been seeing patients for about two months and becomes the 22nd Jane Pauley Community Health Center across five counties in Central Indiana. 15 are open to the general public. The others are school clinics.
"A lot are in my old stomping grounds where the need is great, where access to health care isn't met,” said Pauley, who grew up on the east side of Indianapolis.
The first Jane Pauley Community Health Center opened almost 10 years ago in partnership with Warren Township schools and Community Health Network.
"I say the name knowing full well that to the patients that come here, it's where the doctor is," said Pauley. "It has nothing to do with my name."
But in her name, the doctor is in for all patients. 60 percent have Medicaid, 20 percent have some commercial insurance, 10 percent have Medicare and 10 percent walk in with no health insurance coverage.