A group is in talks with the city about opening a medical clinic in the Good Samaritan Hospital building on Broad Street.

The Good Samaritan Medical Center group is based in Georgia and has been working since 2011 to try to make their vision a reality. The center would focus on preventative healthcare and organizers say it would not compete with Vaughan Regional Medical Center.

“It’s really early in the process,” said Dr. Rajiv Patel, who is involved in the project. “I think the mission we are defining is there is a certain need for healthcare for a certain segment of the population in Selma, especially the socioeconomic depressed individuals that don’t have the access to healthcare.”

The Good Samaritan Hospital building is currently owned by the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs. Selma Mayor George Evans said once all the funding is pieced together, the city will ask ADECA to turn the building over to the city.

“At that point, we will have it all the planning in place and be moving it forward getting it all set up,” Evans said.

ADECA said Friday afternoon that it is exploring the issue and has asked the city of Selma to submit a proposal for the building. During Tuesday’s city council meeting, a letter of support was approved for the project.

The Times-Journal requested a copy of the letter from the mayor’s office Friday afternoon but was unable to obtain one before the end of the business day.

“Once the building is requested by the city, the terms and conditions of the building being in their care would have to be worked out,” Evans said.

Patel said his group plans to operate with the city in control of the building.

“We don’t have anything solid or in the books, but we’ve thought about that. I think our hope is that the city will own this,” Patel said. “This is not something that we intend to own. We intend to come in and create something and then I think eventually the city will have ownership of this because it’s in their best interest to keep it within the city.”

Patel said the group will focus on some of the major health problems in Selma, like obesity, hypertension, heart disease and stroke.

“The purpose is at the grassroots level to make a positive contribution to individuals that may not have the best healthcare,” Patel said. “That’s where we are primarily directing our efforts toward.”

Cornelius Roberts, who is heading the project, said the group has been inside the Good Samaritan building and understands it’s going to take work to get back open.

“We went through there with an architect and I realize it was vandalized and a lot of things were taken, but like any project it’s going to take hard work and effort and we are ready to meet that challenge,” Roberts said.

The building is home to a lot of history. During the voting rights movement, Good Samaritan Hospital was the only medical center for hundreds of miles that would treat blacks.Congressman John Lewis was one of many treated there after the violence on Bloody Sunday. The hospital closed in 1983 and the building has gone unused for years. The Good Samaritan Hospital group hopes to put it to good use.

“At this point we are expanding our resources because of the need, but hopefully it will snowball quickly into something,” Patel said. “When I say quickly, it may take like a year or so, but something substantial for the community.”