The Denmark Family Health Center Inc. located at 1241 Solomon Blatt Boulevard in Denmark held its Open House on Friday, April 29 from 2:30-4:30 p.m. The Denmark Family Health Center Inc. is a modern, comprehensive health facility that is open Monday-Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

According to Site Supervisor Michelle Monroe, LPN, the Denmark Family Health Center Inc. “serves everybody in the community adult and children. Anybody can come in and have certain procedures done using a sliding scale. Everyone is welcome and we are accepting new patients,” Monroe said.

Dr. Thomas E. Gaffney, MD. full-time, Internist at the Denmark Center has worked a number of years on the staff of the University of South Carolina Medical School and the staff of Richland Memorial Hospital in Internal Medicine and prior to that served as a fulltime physician in North Carolina and has worked a number of years with "underserved populations."

“I’ve enjoyed it-being here,” Dr. Gaffney said. “It’s a wonderful opportunity to serve underserved populations. There is a great need for more health.”

Dr. Gaffney said his and Dr. Sandra Stephens, focus will be on the prevention of obesity, hypertension and diabetes. And, to that end they have submitted the first in a series of grant applications to the Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) that they hope “ will help strengthen the Denmark Center.”

“Those are killers in Denmark and Bamberg and Bamberg County. Their prevalence is far above the average in South Carolina,” Dr. Gaffney said, adding “Those are devastating diseases for people in this county, especially the underserved and all are preventable.” “It will require a lot of involvement and community effort by a lot of people in this county. We would like to ask the people in the county to help and we would like to partner with all the private practioners in the county.“

Some of the services provided at the Denmark Family Health Center include: Physical Therapy through Kathy Schwarting and the staff of the Bamberg County Memorial Hospital; A Certified Nurse Midwife; A Podiatrist; Health and Diabetes Education Program; Migrant Health Program; OB/GYN and Translation Services just to name a few of the many services offered at the Denmark Family Health Center. For more information call (803) 793-4282.