Liberty City residents will have more convenient access to healthcare with the opening of a full-service neighborhood medical center on Northwest Seventh Avenue.


The $ 2.5 million, 7,000 square-foot facility at 6269 NW Seventh Ave., opened by CAC-Florida Medical Centers, offers primary care services, cardiology, gastroenterology, dermatology, endocrinology, neurology and ophthalmology, among other specialties.

CAC partnerships with various health plans will enable the center to provide medical services to lower-income patients on Medicare or Medicaid.

Residents got a sneak peak of the center’s offerings at a grand opening and ribbon-cutting ceremony, Saturday. The event featured live entertainment, refreshments and tours of the facility.

“The community needs this. Everybody needs health services. All of these senior citizens are so happy to see this come about,” said the Rev. Dr. Preston W. Marshall Jr., a veteran Liberty City activist.

The center is the 11th opened by CAC which started out in 1964 as Clinica Asociación Cubana in Little Havana. Until now, it has primarily served the Hispanic community.

The Liberty Center will serve a community where getting healthcare can be difficult for residents with little access to transportation. Two of three county-funded clinics have been closed, while a new county clinic is not expected to open until next year.

“We have a lot to offer,” Dr. Mayda C. Antun, CAC-Florida’s CEO, said in an interview before the center’s grand opening.

“There isn’t going to be a medical facility like ours in Liberty City,” Miami Mayor Tomas Regalado believes the center will bring more than healthcare to Liberty City, predicting its presence will attract other businesses.

“There is a market here. Don’t let this opportunity pass,” Regalado said at the opening event.  “It is an area for good business, it has its own light.”

Jennifer Moreno may be reached at jmore029@fiu.edu.