Student Clinic Renamed…Salt Wagon Clinic @ Meharry

Meharry students held a campus-wide contest to rename the student-run (faculty-supervised) free health clinic.

 

The clinic, which provides free medical and dental care to the community on Thursdays from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., was formerly located on 12^th Ave. South and called the 12 South Community Clinic.

 

It has now moved to the Meharry campus in North Nashville and students held a contest for the selection of the new name.

 

Nearly 200 names were submitted and Salt Wagon Clinic @ Meharry was selected as the new name.

 

The name, which was submitted by student Stephanie Wiafe, was chosen because it reflects Meharry’s rich history.

 

In the 1820s, 16-year-old Samuel Meharry was hauling a load of salt through Kentucky when his wagon slid off the road into a muddy ditch. A black family helped Meharry lift the salt wagon from the mud and Meharry vowed to repay their act of kindness by doing something to help the African American race. Meharry and his four brothers funded Central Tennessee College’s Medical Department which we now know as Meharry.

 

Guest speakers for the Name Unveiling Event were: Rep. Harold Love, Jr.; Bishop Joseph Walker, III and Lonnell Matthews.

 

Salt Wagon Clinic @ Meharry was founded by Meharry students and established in partnership with the United Neighborhoods Health Services clinic network. Its mission is to address health care disparities within our community by providing free, high-quality care to Nashville’s underserved populations and by serving as a clinical skills training ground for students, inspiring the next generation of primary care specialists.