A Wider Road to Wellness

By John Green, Executive Director of A.D.R.O.P.

Have you heard the expression, “Stay in your lane?” It’s often used to tell someone to take a step back, but it can also describe a situation where you have certain strengths and skills and to stick to what you do well. At A.D.R.O.P.’s Unity Clinic our “lane” involves providing acute primary care and monitoring of chronic adult issues like diabetes in addition to other services including phlebotomy and immunizations. We have language interpreters on staff to assist patients with communication with our Unity Clinic providers.

So, when is it appropriate to step out of your lane? What we have learned in 20 years at Unity Clinic is that there are two circumstances that may warrant stepping out of your lane.

Primary care is often the first step, the “in-road”, to diagnosing additional health concerns that can be treated through early detection. The National Cancer Institute reports that routine mammogram screening reduces breast cancer deaths by 26% and updated guidelines now recommend beginning screening at age 40 because breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in the United States. For this reason, Unity Clinic is partnering with Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center – Jefferson Health to offer our patients free mammogram screening on Friday May 22, 2026. They are scheduled through our clinic and can access this service on-site with the help of the friendly staff who manage the mobile clinic. We gladly step out of our lane to get our patients screened for breast cancer.

Nearly half of U.S. adults, approximately 120 million people, have hypertension. In 2026 it is a leading cause of death, contributing to over 664,000 U.S. deaths annually. Worldwide, 1.4 billion people aged 30-79 have hypertension, with 44% unaware of their condition. These are conversations we have with patients regularly as part of primary care provision. This summer we have a new medical provider, Dr. Colin Park, who specializes in hypertension treatment and management who is offering additional opportunities to provide support and education.

During our clinic hours, May 19th from 6-7pm, Dr. Park will offer educational training for patients wanting to learn more about this topic to improve their health. It may be a step “out of our lane” to move from the exam room to the classroom, but we do what it takes to give the most up-to-date information to our patients.

A.D.R.O.P.’s Unity Clinic is very good at staying in its lane, but when an obstacle is in the roadway, like breast cancer or hypertension, you need to know what direction to turn temporarily so you can return to the safe travel of moving forward in the life we are gifted.

John W. Green

Executive Director, A.D.R.O.P.