West Louisville YMCA home of new Norton medical office

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) – It’s where people work out and the spot kids can go swimming, but now the new YMCA near 18th Street and Broadway in Louisville could be where community members get medical checkups, too.

Dr. Brent Duncan is the first of five family practitioners who will work out of Norton Medical Group's new West Louisville office inside the YMCA.

"We take care of kids, adults, women, some minor orthopedic stuff, some minor dermatologic stuff as well,” Duncan said. “Our goal is to kind of take care of the whole person.”

He said the 12 exam rooms, full-sized medical lab, and X-ray room are just the beginning. There’s a social worker on staff providing therapy for patients, and a food pantry, fresh produce vendors and cooking lessons at the office are in the works.

Duncan said housing the doctor’s office inside the YMCA is part of Norton’s holistic approach to address as many aspects of a person's health as possible. He also said it tackles more than the transportation issue faced by many patients.

"We want people to feel comfortable coming to the doctor,” he said. “For a lot of folks going to East Louisville, going to South Louisville, or whether it's downtown, it's out of their comfort zone, they're not used to it, it's not as easy for them."

Duncan spent a long time working at Shawnee Christian Healthcare Center and knows certain challenges in this community like violence and crime can have a huge impact on health.

"Caring for the social, emotional, mental, physical and even spiritual aspect, in order to help heal folks, help get them healthy, we need to address all those aspects,” he said.

Duncan is currently accepting new patients.

By April, there will be five practitioners on staff at the YMCA office.

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