In 1976, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation in cooperation with the American Medical
Association and the United States Conference of Mayors developed a plan to help five
major cities better serve urban neighborhoods. Each city that was chosen received
three million dollars to establish ambulatory neighborhood clinics. The goal of the
project was to improve the health of underserved urban residents by making
neighborhood provision more accessible and lowering the cost of this care by
diverting primary care patients away from emergency rooms. The grantee was the
Milwaukee Health Department and the Milwaukee Health Commissioner, who served as the
director of the project. The proposal was developed in cooperation with the
Milwaukee County Medical Complex, the Medical College of Wisconsin, Marquette
University School of Dentistry, and the Special Projects Advisory Group which
provided community input. Four urban locations were selected including the Downtown
Medical and Health Services Clinic, the Johnston Community Health Center, the
Harambee Community Health Center, and the Inner City Development Project/Mt. Sinai
Medical Health Center. The project ultimately failed mostly due to the fact that the
project was unable to change the habits of consumers or providers and so there was a
major lack in utilization of these sites, as well as administrative problems.
Ann Lennarson Greer, a professor of Sociology and Urban Studies at the University of
Wisconsin-Milwaukee was hired as a third party consultant to review the project. Her
long career as a researcher has mostly focused on the uptake of innovation in
medical practice and health care organizations focusing on local-level
decision-making by healthcare professionals, healthcare consumers, and health
organization managers.
