Episode 105 Jordan Ring Scroggs - "Shreveport-Bossier: My City, My Community, My Home"

Shreveport-Bossier: My City, My Community, My Home

Jordan Ring Scroggs, Executive Director at MLK Health Center & Pharmacy, sits down with Jeffrey Goodman, Director of Marketing and Development for the YMCA of Northwest Louisiana, to answer the following questions:

0:30 1. Let’s start at the beginning if we could.

The founder of MLK Health Center & Pharmacy was Doctor Robert J Jackson who in 1985 recognized a gap in our community.

Talk to me about the origin of MLK Health Center & Pharmacy.

8:18 2. There’s a tremendous documentary about MLK Health Center & Pharmacy that KSLA made several years ago entitled Chronically Heal that I recommend everyone seek out. You can find it on YouTube.

I want to share a couple of the stats found in the documentary:

It is estimated that about 15% of residents of NWLA have no Medicare, no Medicaid, no private insurance and do not qualify under state guidelines for free care

There’s between 40 and 45,000 uninsured adults in our area and we suspect that many of them struggle with chronic conditions

Our community clearly needs you and the incredible work that you do. You offer a number of different services. Tell me about all the different services one can receive when they walk into MLK.

22:00 3. For those in our community who are insured and who do not struggle with access to health care, paint a picture of what life looks like for the uninsured, particularly those who have yet to discover or utilize the tremendous resource that MLK is.

27:00 4. In addition to your critical role at MLK, you have been a strong advocate for the Shreveport-Bossier community. For instance you started the I Love Shreveport Instagram and Facebook pages.

I’d like to get your perspective now on our community. First, as you look at our community, what concerns you the most?

28:51 5. Lastly, on the flip side of the previous question, what gives you hope that we’re headed in a positive direction?