In 1985, Dr. Jack Wood was just four years out of family practice residency when one of the members of his church asked if he’d like to volunteer at a South Side medical clinic called the Wesley.

The Wesley House had opened in 1909, providing food and clothes, a soup kitchen and some classes for young girls and women. It expanded to become a full-service community center offering both medical and dental services to those in nearby neighborhoods.

Wood said yes once and never looked back.

Less than a year later, he found himself the only doctor regularly volunteering at the clinic. “We were really at the low end of making an impact,” Wood says. “If you’ve only got one doctor for one evening once a month, there’s not much you can do. People don’t even realize you’re there as a resource.”

Led by his faith and the deep desire to make a difference, the doctor started volunteering a half day every week. By 1988, he was volunteering a second half day at another Wesley clinic located in Villa Coronado. He saw his patient load start to grow as the clinic struggled to make ends meet.

Fast forward nine years: Methodist Healthcare Ministries takes over the management of the two clinics, infusing them with much-needed funding to continue providing services. And Wood decides to leave his private practice to work full time at the clinic.

“I stayed. There are people in need here. It’s a dream of mine to be able to help them – at least a little bit,” he says.

Through his dedication, the work of many volunteers and staff members and the financial support of Methodist Healthcare Ministries, Wesley started to blossom, eventually growing out of its humble home.

Wood now sees patients at the new $12 million, 47,000-square-foot Wesley Health & Wellness Center on 1406 Fitch St., dedicated in November 2009.

The Need
The need is huge. “We have seen an increase in the last few years. We could easily fill the days of three or four times as many physicians as we have now,” says Wood.

That’s not hard to imagine. The center sits in one of the most underserved areas in San Antonio. More than half the families with children under 18 years old have incomes below 185 percent of federal poverty guidelines, and the median family income is 32 percent below that of Bexar County, according to the 2000 Census and 2004 Community Needs Assessment. Many of the more than 6,000 families within a two-mile radius of the center are single parent households earning less than $15,000 per year.

“Our biggest need right now,” says Wood, “are medical specialists who are willing to let us refer patients to them and provide both the medical care and access to technology necessary to serve them.” It’s a huge challenge, he adds. And while Methodist Healthcare System provides much of the access for hospital care, so much more is needed.

More than Medical
While Wood focuses on his medical work at the center, there are many others who are busy providing “a whole bunch of good things that have nothing to do with medical care,” he adds. That includes sports for all ages, after school activities and summer programs for children, exercise classes, basketball programs, music, counseling and legal services, to name a few. There are 12 medical exam rooms, but also 20 dental operatories, an oral surgery suite and a full service dental laboratory.

“While the new Wesley Health & Wellness Center is an open, beautiful and welcoming building, its real heart lies in the people we serve here,” says Kevin C. Moriarty, president and chief executive officer for Methodist Healthcare Ministries. “Whether we’re providing immunizations, building character in a six year old through one of our youth programs, providing a parent free food for her family or teaching someone’s grandma how to salsa, our goal is not build a pretty building, but to always remain laser-focused on creating healthier lives, stronger families and strengthened communities.”

When he goes to sleep at night, Wood thinks about the good he has done for those he has interacted with during that day – those who might have fallen through the cracks if it hadn’t been for the Wesley Center.

“If I wake up in the middle of the night,” he says, “it’s the frustration of knowing how much more needs to be done.”