Nashville, TN – Matthew Walker Comprehensive Health Center has announced details surrounding the 2026 Dr. Matthew Walker, Sr. Legacy Breakfast – The Road Ahead: Fueling the Future of Community Health. The breakfast will take place in the evening at The Cal Turner Family Center at Meharry Medical College (1011 21st Avenue North) on August 13 at 6:00pm. The event Visionary Sponsors are HCA Healthcare/TriStar Health, Enchiridion Foundation, Boykin Wealth Management, and Jack and Jill of America Williamson County Area Chapter, with 100% of attendee’s donations strengthening MWCHC programs and services.
Artmas L. Worthy, DDS will be awarded the Dr. Matthew Walker, Sr. Legacy Award for his contributions to Nashville including providing housing for needy students from no cost to a modest fee and scholarship funds to Meharry and Clark Memorial United Methodist Church for deserving students. In 2014, he endowed a scholarship at Meharry.
Through his generosity and care, many elderly and others on fixed incomes have received free oral health care services for more than four decades. For nearly 30 years, Dr. Worthy served in a number of capacities at MWCHC including general dentist, associate dentist, and dental director. He was also instrumental in securing the land for the present location on Jefferson Street.
The Brentwood (TN) Alumni Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. will be awarded the Michelle B. Marrs Advocacy Award for their continued work to address health and wellness, especially food insecurity, for students and families throughout Middle Tennessee. Their efforts have benefitted organizations including MWCHC, YWCA, Metro Nashville Public Schools, and many more.
“We will once again gather as a community to recognize Dr. Walker’s legacy,” said Katina Beard, CEO of MWCHC. “Expanding our mobile unit services allows us to intentionally seek out those populations that, without our mobile health program, would likely go without healthcare.”
Funds raised through the Legacy Breakfast will directly support MWCHC’s mobile unit program, expanding access to care for hard-to-reach populations in Nashville, Clarksville, and Smyrna.
Dr. Walker chaired Meharry Medical College’s department of surgery from 1945 to 1973 and developed a rigorous residency program to cultivate exceptionally trained surgeons. He was a professor of surgery and gynecology from 1944 until his death in 1978. At the time of his passing, Dr. Walker had trained more than half of the Black surgeons in the United States.
Dr. Walker saw the need for a comprehensive health center to address the specific needs of the North Nashville community. After receiving federal funding to make his vision possible, he founded MWCHC in 1968 as the Meharry Neighborhood Health Center, a family-oriented ambulatory center. The Center was able to provide comprehensive health services to underserved community members in one convenient location, prevent and treat disease, and provide jobs for persons of low economic and educational backgrounds.
Matthew Walker Comprehensive Health Center is a non-profit health center providing affordable and quality healthcare to patients in the Middle Tennessee and surrounding areas. MWCHC is dedicated to providing medical, dental and behavioral health services to patients of all ages regardless of economic status, with its three facilities in Nashville, Clarksville, and Smyrna reaching 18,000 patients a year.
Dr. Matthew Walker, Sr. Legacy Breakfast
Thursday, August 13, 2026 – 6:00pm
The Cal Turner Family Center at Meharry Medical College
1011 21st Avenue North
Nashville, TN 37208
Registration and Donations (here)
