CONYERS — Mercy Heart health clinic will open in January with big goals, but the organization will take small steps toward serving the medical needs of the indigent and underinsured in Rockdale County.

Greg Smith, president of Mercy Heart Inc., told the Rotary Club of Conyers last week, the work of the clinic is not just to provide free health care to those who cannot afford it. The service will ripple across the community to perform an important role in the overall health of the community.

Smith noted the first benefit will be in trauma care in the county by reducing the number of patients walking into Rockdale Medical Center’s Emergency Department.

In fiscal year 2008, RMC’s Emergency Department classified 13,769 patients receiving care as doctor visits. Also, the hospital served 8,328 uninsured patients in the Emergency Department.

And the need grows as local businesses close due to the recession.

“One day, I was driving back from Covington, and I decided to take the Access Road home and what struck me was empty building after empty building of businesses that had left or closed,” Smith said. “Then I wondered about all of those employees who worked there, and where these people were going to for their health care.”

Mercy Heart will open in the former parsonage of Grace Baptist Church at Ga. Highway 20 and Kay Terrace. The clinic came about after Grace Baptist merged with First Baptist Church of Conyers.

First Baptist formed Mercy Heart Inc. to be the nonprofit entity to run the clinic and solicit funding. Smith said the organization has received funding through several grants, including a $30,000 award from Kaiser Permanente which was facilitated through United Way of Rockdale County. The clinic also received a $16,000 grant from Snapping Shoals EMC and $5,000 from the Beech Foundation.

Smith said the clinic has received other support in the community. Homer Lewis and Associates provided architectural assistance with the building renovation, and several health care providers in the community have offered to become volunteers.

He added that he hoped the community would embrace Mercy Heart’s mission as the key in the clinic’s ultimate success.

“We need volunteers. Resources like grant money always help, but we need for the community to reach out to support this,” Smith said.

Smith said he believed Mercy Heart is being established on a solid foundation, and though a lot of work has already been done, he said the biggest challenges will come when the doors first open.

Also, Smith and Mercy Heart board member Darlene Hotchkiss alluded to Healing Hands, the clinic located in Lakeview Estates that provided indigent health care for 10 years before closing in 2004. That clinic closed due to increasing liability insurance costs.

“Demand is going to exceed supply, we know that,” he said. “Also, we have to work on perceptions of what a free health clinic is and what it should be. So, we want to establish the organization with a solid foundation and make it as transparent as possible.”

Smith explained Mercy Heart will have an advantage thanks to Georgia’s Good Samaritan Laws approved in 2007 that protect health care providers from malpractice claims if they volunteer at a free health clinic.

Mercy Heart will operate on appointments only and open for a few hours only on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. Telephone lines should be operational by next month.

Initially, the clinic will provide preventative care for those with diabetes, hypertension, chronic heart failure and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Mercy Heart will also provide basic dental care.

For more information on setting an appointment, call 678-374-5113. To inquire on volunteering or donating services, call Mercy Heart’s administrative offices at 678-374-5115.