ST. PETERSBURG — Step through the glass doors at 1344 22nd St. S. and experience a slice of the city’s history. Inside the building’s main entrance is a small gallery commemorating Mercy Hospital. To the right is what remains of the hospital — the only such facility that served black people in segregated St. Petersburg from 1923 to 1961. To the left is the reception desk of Johnnie Ruth Clarke Health Center, which opened in 2004. The hospital and health center were established for the same reason: to provide medical care for people with nowhere else to go. Johnnie Ruth Clarke is one of 10 primary care facilities that make up Community Health Centers of Pinellas....
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