Neighborhood healthcare provider reopens after Hurricane Florence

WHITEVILLE, NC (WECT) - A healthcare provider that has served one area for more than 20 years has reopened seven months after Hurricane Florence.

Two to three feet of water flooded G & G Healthcare on South Madison Street in downtown Whiteville following the hurricane. According to manager Cynthia Ellis, floodwater destroyed everything from medical equipment to medical records and computers. G & G was forced to move into a different building, she said.

“A lot of things were lost, and knowing that it was the office that we started in, you can’t put a price on that," Ellis said.

The new building is located at 326 Columbus Corners Drive in the same complex as Walmart. G & G now has double the space, according to Ellis.

Making the move would not have been possible without help from the Chamber of Commerce, Columbus Regional Medical Center and the North Carolina Medical Society, which gave G & G a $60,000 check to help rebuild. The chamber donated computers and other electronics.

Ellis said G & G provides care for those who may not be able to afford more expensive health care.

“Our motto is providing quality healthcare at reasonable prices to anyone who wants to be seen,” she said.

According to Ellis, many patients hadn’t been seen since G & G closed.

“These are some sick folks we’re talking about,” Ellis said. "We’re in rural southeastern North Carolina, so it has been very important to them [that G & G reopened] and they tell us all the time, ‘We’ve missed you. Where have you been?'”

A February reopening was expected, but plans were delayed until April 15 — G & G’s 21st anniversary — although Ellis said that was a coincidence.

Copyright 2019 WECT. All rights reserved.