Siloam Celebrates 10 Years of Service
to the Nashville Community

Originally published in the Fall 2001 edition of Healing Waters
By Nancy West, Executive Director

The vision for Siloam was birthed on a Sunday morning in 1988. Dr. David Gregory was sitting in church, and comments that he probably should have been taking notes on the sermon. Instead he was making notes on the need for high-quality affordable health care for the many people who were slipping through the cracks in the health care system. Dr. Gregory passed the note down the pew to a colleague.

Nancy West, Executive Director

A small committee from the Belmont Church was formed – it included Dr. Gregory, Mick Antanaitis and Donna Finto-Burks. This committee targeted the health care needs of the Edgehill community located near Belmont Church. They did all the things that feasibility committees do. They met with pastors, community and city leaders, and area hospitals. They also met with members of the health care community including the Tennessee Medical Association and Nashville Academy of Medicine, Metro Health Department, and others to determine the needs and the community support.

In addition, they also attended various national meetings held by the Christian Community Health Fellowship (CCHF). These meetings and visits with faith-based clinics located in other Tennessee cities helped the committee to learn from the experiences of others who were successfully offering health care services to an underserved population. Early reports from one meeting reflect this advice, "Begin by offering bits and pieces to see the needs and the response. The structure can then emerge that best fits the needs of the community." Whether by design or default that statement has turned out to be a very accurate reflection of Siloam’s growth over the last ten years.
Minutes from a June 6, 1988 meeting also reflect a statement that continues to be a guide for Siloam’s board and staff: "David (Dr. Gregory) admonished us to be in personal prayer regarding the clinic. He does not want us to proceed simply on the basis of need, but on the basis of obedience to God."

Dr. J. Brevard Haynes, right, chairman of Siloam’s board, presents Dr. David Gregory with a plaque to honor him as a founder and for his 10 years of service to Siloam. Dr. Gregory continues to serve as Siloam’s medical director.

Siloam’s name became official late in 1988. After weeks of considering various options the committee agreed upon the name – Siloam Family Health Center. Siloam is the pool in John 9:1-12 where Jesus sent the blind man to wash after making mud with spittle and putting it on the blind man's eyes. In Hebrew the word Siloam means "sent."
There were many early struggles for this dedicated group whose vision was to offer a ministry of healing to the community in a manner that recognizes and addresses both the spiritual and medical dimensions of disease and suffering. They went through months of thinking they would be able to renovate a nearby three-story house, but legal entanglements delayed the project and eventually support from Belmont for that location faded and the group was forced to look elsewhere for space.

Then in 1990 our present location became an option. The 12th Avenue South apartment complex was being purchased by the Nashville Resource Foundation. An article in The Tennessean described the complex as "an old dilapidated building infested with drug users, needles and whisky bottles." The article goes on to quote a member of the Foundation as saying, "Before we started working there were 75 to 100 needles on the floor. Some of them had not been fully voided. There was still dope in them." Many corporations and community organizations came together to help clean up the buildings.

With a location in mind, the next step was to secure proper zoning. Plans were drawn and once the zoning issue was resolved Dr. Gregory recalls the many "razing parties" that took place. Siloam would soon inhabit two of the more than 40 small apartment units. Volunteers worked until the dividing wall was taken out of two adjoining units (apartments #4 and #5) leaving only a shell with concrete floors. Of course, the really big challenge was raising the funds to turn the 1,000-sq-ft. space into a medical clinic.

In 1991, along with the need for funds, the need came for a contractor. This contractor need was filled by a recent retiree from the Army Corp of Engineers who was new to Nashville and was looking for a place to make a contribution. Dr. Gregory recalls that every morning the contractor would go down to the Nashville Rescue Mission and hire guys off the street. Not only did this provide affordable labor for Siloam, but the men were taught valuable building skills. Other volunteers, including Dr. Gregory and his wife, Joicelyn, spent many hours painting, varnishing and waxing the floors. Finally, the doors were ready to open.

That was ten years ago and the two-hour-per-week clinic is now seeing patients 40 hours each week. Instead of a few hundred annual patient visits, 6,000 patient visits are anticipated this year. Volunteers who serve at the clinic have grown from a few on Saturday mornings to more than 200 volunteers who give more than 6,000 hours of service annually.

Patient outreach has expanded from the Edgehill community to beyond Davidson County. The vision to be a faith-based clinic that brings together the body of Christ, the Church, to do the work that Christ called us to do – heal the sick and care for the poor – is a reality. Today, Siloam is supported by many churches and denominations throughout the community.

The Siloam story is truly an amazing story of what can happen when people share a vision and are committed to a mission of sharing the love of Christ by serving those in need through health care.

The next major challenge is moving Siloam from its current home of ten years to a larger facility to better meet the needs of patients, volunteers and staff. It has been an exciting ten years of growth and all of those committed to Siloam are looking forward to the next ten years.

©2001 Siloam Health Center