Michigan State University is opening its first neighborhood medical clinic on Mack Avenue in Detroit Tuesday.
The Late physician Michael Popoff previously ran the east-side Detroit clinic from 1968 until his death in 2015. Popoff's family agreed to donate his clinic to Michigan State University as long as the university would continue operating and providing care out of the facility.
“For us it’ s a natural fit,” said William D. Strampel, Dean of the College of Osteopathic Medicine at MSU. “We want to provide primary care access. We're going to start it, and we're going to see what we need, and then how the population is will define what we add to that clinic.”
Typically, donations of property to universities are sold and the funds used to create a scholarship. Strampel said the Popoff family was insistent they wanted to continue providing care to patients in the clinic’s east side neighborhood.
Popoff’s widow, Linda Popoff, said the clinic meets a crucial need in a neighborhood where many people don’t have transportation to access healthcare in other parts of the city. She thanked Strampel and the university for recognizing the need in the community.
"We know there's a lot of investment going on downtown,” Linda Popoff said. “But this is a neighborhood investment. Not just in the clinic, but in the neighborhoods, and in the people."
