Lesser researched established clinics in the Grant Park area and hung out at the St. Joseph's Mercy Mobile to figure out how to start the Gwinnett clinic. The most important thing is to be able to triage a patient's important problems, and then have the resources to send a patient to, he said. The next step on the road to opening his clinic was calling on his colleagues to donate their time and services. Gwinnett had a fairly young medical community then, according to Lesser, and the physicians were still idealistic. Today, the population of Gwinnett County has changed dramatically, and so have the faces in the clinic's waiting room.
Immigrant status is of no consequence to the clinic's staff.
Anyone with a real medical problem is welcome. Lesser estimates half of the clinic's patients are immigrants to the county and the country. The clinic was able to secure its facilities for after-hours use. As the GCHD's services and hours expanded, Lesser decided it was time to find a place of his own. Occupying former hospital Today, the clinic occupies the former Humana hospital facility on U.S. 78 in Snellville.