MARIETTA, Ga. — The Good Samaritan Health Center of Cobb has a mission: "to spread the love of Christ by providing a quality healthcare home to the uninsured and underserved in our community.”
Cyrl Kitchens, CEO for the center, is a graduate of Georgia Tech with a degree in Electrical Engineering. Coming to his current position from a successful career in the business world was a true step of faith for him.
For Kitchens, the Lord used Psalm 37:23 (The steps of a man are established by the Lord, when he delights in his way) to help him take the step of faith necessary to return to the Atlanta area and eventually to the health center.
“There were family needs concerning my father that required attention in the early days of my return to Georgia, Kitchens explained, “However, the thought of living the story of the Good Samaritan every day and the privilege of presenting the gospel in tangible ways to people who have no health care became a primary focus after joining the board in 2008.”
Kitchens could not dismiss the physical and spiritual needs of the 100,000 individuals in Cobb County without health insurance.
Last year, “Good Sam” served 3,700 patients making a total of 29,171 visits. Fifty-six volunteers provided 3,947 hours of service to the Center, and the total value of care provided was $13,212,473. Most importantly, 53 individuals professed faith in Christ through this strategic ministry.
At “Good Sam,” patients pay on a sliding fee scale based on income and household size, with the remaining costs being provided by donations.
In addition, “Good Sam” received a $100,000 grant primarily for medical care from the Georgia Baptist Health Care Ministry Foundation. The foundation holds charitable assets from which funds are distributed in the form of grants supporting health care needs that benefit organizations and individuals in Georgia and other communities served. In 2024 the foundation, under the leadership of its Executive Director Larry Wynn distributed $8,417,791 to 81 different health care ministries.
Wynn explained, “The Good Samaritan Health Center of Cobb is doing exceptionally good work and making a significant impact upon the lives of those who are struggling to have their physical and emotional needs effectively served.”
The Center was co-founded in 2006 by Rev. Grant Cole, pastor of Living Stone Church, and Dr. Jack Kennedy, director of Cobb and Douglas Public Health, after recognizing that medical bills and emergency vehicle repairs were the root cause of financial hardship, family instability, and a diminishing quality of life in the community.
Kitchens said, “Good Sam’s family-centered integrated approach ensures that we deliver high quality primary and preventative medical and dental services in addition to behavioral health counseling, pharmaceutical, referral, and health education programs in an atmosphere of dignity and respect, regardless of race, ethnicity, religion, or ability to pay.”
“We are not a clinic that has a ministry, but we are a ministry that has a clinic,” declared David Santander, the chaplain at Good Sam. “We are not just concerned with the physical health of our patients, but with their souls and spirits as well. My personal goal is to share Christ with at least one person each day.”
“Most patients come with some kind of trauma in their lives,” he continued. “We want to see them healed from the inside as well as the outside. We pray with them and sometimes we cry with them.”
Both Kitchens and Santander emphasized the importance of each employee and each volunteer being a committed Christian and being a faithful disciple of Christ. Good Sam has a devotion for the staff each morning, and there is an ongoing spiritual mentoring process.
Santander shared the story of Iris, a young woman from Honduras, who was in great need of help. When she came to the health center, she was pregnant. Her husband was in prison. She was renting a little room in a trailer park.
Iris had heard about the clinic through friends, neighbors, and her church’s pastor. From the moment she entered the facilities, she said, everyone was warm and friendly; and they went out of their way to help her.
Santander explained, “When our patients come, they have physical needs, but we know everyone has a deeper need, a spiritual need. We want to be Christ’s hands to those who have physical needs, and our prayer is, ‘Lord, if you want to speak truth to their hearts, please use any one of us.’”
“When Iris came here,” Santander recalled, “she had no family. She was without hope. She had no money and didn’t know what to do or where to go.”
“I felt the love of God in that place,” Iris said, “The doctor really took care of me and wanted to look after my mental wellbeing as well.” Staff helped her prepare for the arrival of her baby. Iris knew she would need a car seat, but didn’t have one. “The staff of the health center had an angel tree for Christmas,” she recalled, “and there was a car seat under the tree for my baby.”
Iris had been praying, “If there is a God, I want to know Him,” and the center was an answer to those prayers.
Iris professed Christ as her Savior. Her husband was saved in prison, and upon being released he was baptized and both Iris and her husband are actively serving the Lord through a local church.
Good Samaritan Health Center in Cobb County is carrying out its mission of providing physical, emotional and spiritual healing to those in need, and it is having an eternal impact on those it serves.
