Former NBA star Michael Jordan. AP FILE PHOTO
CHARLOTTE, North Carolina — Hornets owner Michael Jordan is donating $7 million to launch medical clinics that he hopes will help at-risk communities in Charlotte.
It’s the largest philanthropic donation ever by the former NBA champion.
The donation will fund two Novant Health Michael Jordan Family Clinics, which are projected to open in 2020.
“It is my hope that these clinics will help provide a brighter and healthier future for the children and families they serve,” Jordan, who grew up in North Carolina, said in a release Monday.
Jordan’s spokeswoman Estee Portnoy said the 54-year-old NBA great was motivated by a study that found poor children in Charlotte have the worst odds of those of any of the top 50 cities in the United States to lift themselves out of poverty.
Novant said the clinics will provide an avenue to affordable, high-quality care — including behavioral health, physical therapy, social work, oral health and family planning — to individuals in the community who have little or no health care.
The clinics are projected to care for nearly 35,000 children and adults who do not currently have access to
primary and preventive care or who use the emergency room for non-urgent medical needs.