Helping Dr. Benjamin

Bayou La Batre Construction She's half a million dollars short to build her new clinic. Can News 5 viewers and web visitors make it happen?

by Tiffany Craig

Published: Tue, December 02, 2008 - 6:50 pm CST Last Updated: Tue, December 02, 2008 - 6:55 pm CST

The sounds of construction will soon stop at the site of the new Bayou La Batre medical clinic on Tapia Lane.

Doctor Regina Benjamin is out of money!

She got a million dollars from the state to build the new facility but she still needs about $500,000 more. Dr. Benjamin was told that she would get leftover medical grant money to finish the building but that fell through.

Benjamin's original clinic flooded during Hurricane Katrina and was gutted a few months later in a fire. Even with all those challenges, she never stopped helping patients. Mayor Stan Wright says even patients without a penny are not turned away. "I've seen people say I don't have no money but here's a quart of oysters, you know! She'd take the oysters and she'll treat em like they're a millionaire."

A fund has been set up if you would like to make a donation to help the clinic.

You can donate at any Regions Bank and the account is called the Dr. Benjamin Clinic Fund.

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pacerpadre Says:

Wed, Dec 03, 2008 at 9:32 am

Can we at least get some specifics on the red tape involved here? I’m just not really grasping on how/why “her” money was taken. How about we get the story from the state’s viewpoint?