Stories of Unity

Dear valued supporters, patients and members of our community, to reassure you that Unity Health Care leadership and clinical staff are closely monitoring all developments related to the coronavirus. For 35 years, Unity has been a provider of quality and compassionate health care to individuals of all ages throughout the District, and we will continue to do so as this situation evolves.

Willie Payden first started going for care at Unity when he was a teenager. Now 63, he values all it has done for him and believes it’s greatly changed his life for the better.

Tiarra Spencer, 28, still remembers that scared feeling she had the first time she was pregnant; 16 at the time, and not sure what to do or where to go. Thankfully, she found herself at Unity’s Minnesota Avenue Health Center and was soon headed on her way for a healthy pregnancy.

According to a recent publication by the Robert Graham Center, the number of family physicians practicing high-volume obstetrics (more than 50 deliveries per year) dropped by over one-half from 2.3 percent of practicing family physicians in 2003 to 1.1 percent in 2016. In small corners of the country, though, innovative training programs continue to foster these skills among learners and build supportive communities for family physicians to safely practice obstetrics.

When 20-something Sayra Molina discovered she was pregnant last year, she wasn’t quite sure what to do. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to have the child and wasn’t confident enough to know if she could handle it. She met with Robin Watkins, Certified Nurse Midwife at Unity, and quickly had her fears alleviated and questions answered.

A recent study by the Committee on Health Care for Underserved Women revealed that women and families are the fastest growing segment of the homeless population, with 34% of the total homeless population composed of families and 84% headed by women.

Domestic violence, kidnapping, rape, gangs—these are just some of the issues that women immigrants who come from El Salvador have faced in their lives and when they come to DC, Unity Health Care tries to help them cope.