Thrive Alabama recently hosted President George W. Bush at the Von Braun Center to fundraise for the organization’s capital campaign, “When One Thrives, All Thrive.” The initiative aims to raise $8 million for a 72,000 sq.ft. state-of-the-art healthcare center in Huntsville.

The Huntsville Business Journal caught up with Thrive CEO Mary Elizabeth Marr after the event to discuss the fundraiser and the new clinic coming to Madison County.

The healthcare center will be built at the corner of Oakwood Avenue and Washington Street in Northeast Huntsville.

“Where we have 20 exam rooms now, we’ll have 52, and we will have so many more services for the underserved population of Huntsville,” said Marr.

The fundraiser, “An Exclusive Conversation with George W. Bush,” included dinner and a fireside chat with the 43rd president. Huntsville Committee of 100 CEO John Allen and Troy7 President Lynn Troy moderated the discussion.

“We were so excited, so humbled by having former President George W. Bush here in town for our event,” said Marr.

Marr continued, “He said all the things that I was so hoping he would talk about: our veterans, … the importance of community health centers, which is why we’re here so that we can raise money to build our big building.”

Thrive selected President Bush as the event’s guest speaker due to his establishment of the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, also known as PEPFAR.

“He talked about PEPFAR, which he and his father helped fund. He was also very involved with domestic HIV and AIDS, which is where we started,” Marr said.

The fundraiser helped Thrive get closer to the $8 million needed to build the healthcare center. Marr said that once the organization breaks ground on the project, it will be two years before it is completed.

According to Thrive, the expansion will allow them to “… fill the gap for unnecessary and costly ER visits, thereby saving our larger healthcare system emergency care funds.”

Currently, the organization sees 7,000 individuals and is projected to serve 14,000 once the clinic is up and running. The healthcare center will allow patients to be treated for behavioral health needs, substance abuse services, nutrition, adult primary care, pediatrics, dental care, and more.

“We are absolutely all about healthcare for all. We take care of people that have insurance, people that have Medicare, Medicaid, and then people who don’t have any insurance at all,” Marr shared.

After the event, Marr traveled to Washington, D.C., for three days to advocate for healthcare for underserved populations in Huntsville and the southern United States.

According to Thrive’s website, “29.6 percent of people living in Madison County are below 200 percent of the federal poverty level.”

Thrive has four locations in Huntsville, including adult primary care, pediatrics, behavioral health, and health education. The organization also has an office in Florence and one in Albertville.

Overall, Thrive serves 12 counties in Alabama.