Jacqueline Fletcher wanted a primary care practitioner who took the time to listen to her, hear her, make her feel safe. She wanted someone who understood her ongoing life experience as a Black woman.
She said she found exactly that in Jamie Neal, an advanced registered nurse practitioner and certified midwife who recently opened Life Tree Women Care on Jacksonville's Westside with her CEO husband Derek Neal. They call the clinic the only one of its kind — Black-owned and -operated, with the lead provider someone of Jamie Neal's particular training — in Northeast Florida.
"That's the reason I went there, because they were African-American," Fletcher said. "It means a lot to me. One of the main things was she seemed to really care and really listen to what I say. She was very attentive, not rushing."
Read the rest of this story at WJCT News partner The Florida Times-Union.