(Image: Odessa Brown Children’s Clinic)

As it hopes to emerge from criticism about a legacy of racism in the city’s healthcare, Seattle Children’s has announced the location for its planned future location of a new Odessa Brown Children’s Clinic in the Central District.

The hospital says it has lined up land at the southwest corner of 18th and Jackson for a new clinic to “serve area patients and families with robust mental health and behavioral health services, nutrition, acute and well-child medical visits, labs, violence and injury prevention support and addiction related resources, which are unique to OBCC and not offered elsewhere.”

Odessa Brown’s previous E Yesler clinic location has been shuttered for more than a year as Children’s said the building is in need of major repairs.

The new location announcement comes as Seattle Children’s says it is working to address equity and racism in a history of decisions around healthcare in the city. KUOW reported this summer on the ongoing challenges for the institution and its relationship with the original Odessa Brown facility in the CD including leadership resignations over failures to address racism, including disproportionate security enforcement and inadequate translation services.

A new Odessa Brown Clinic in the Othello neighborhood opened in March 2022.

The announcement of the new Central District clinic puts firmer plans in place for investing in the area’s healthcare. Children’s says the new site will “join OBCC Othello’s current location in South Seattle as a place where generations of families can continue to receive quality care with dignity and provides another option for trusted care.”

“In exploring locations, two things were critical; remaining in the Central District and ensuring the location selected was suited to serve the most critical needs identified by patient families and the communities we serve,” Jamie Phillips, COO of Seattle Children’s, said in the announcement.

Children’s has not yet announced a planned opening date for the new facility.

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