Care, On Purpose: Inside BAR Health in Brunswick

On Bartow Street, just a few turns from the heart of downtown Brunswick, there’s a health clinic that feels less like an institution and more like a conversation.

Behind the desk is Gwendolyn Roberts, MSN, APRN, FNP-C, AAHIVS — nurse practitioner, wife, mother of four, and founder of BAR Health. The degrees line her résumé: a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Valdosta State University in 2013, a Master of Science in Nursing from South University’s Savannah campus in 2017, induction into Sigma Theta Tau International, and active membership in the Georgia Public Health Association. But when she talks about why she opened her own practice, she doesn’t start with credentials.

She starts with people.

Building What Was Missing

For years, Roberts worked in mental health and acute care settings, moving within systems that were often stretched thin. She watched patients cycle in and out. She watched appointments get rushed. She watched people walk away not because they didn’t value their health, but because they didn’t feel valued.

“People weren’t avoiding care because they didn’t want it,” she says. “They were avoiding it because the system wasn’t built with them in mind.”

BAR Health was her response to that gap.

The name now hangs outside a clinic that offers primary care to adolescents and adults, with services ranging from acute illness visits — coughs, urinary tract infections, upper respiratory infections — to chronic disease management for high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and diabetes. The practice also provides women’s health services, prostate and colon cancer screenings, lab draws, and infectious disease management, including HIV testing, treatment, PrEP, PEP, Hepatitis C care, and STI testing.

But the real difference, Roberts insists, is time.

“There was a season where I realized that staying in traditional systems meant accepting limitations that didn’t align with my values,” she says. “I kept meeting patients who needed more time, more compassion, more follow-up, more advocacy.”

The turning point wasn’t dramatic. It was steady. A growing awareness that waiting for permission to do things differently would never create the change she wanted to see.

“If I wanted to serve my community the way they deserved, I had to build something new.”

From “Have Not” to Health Advocate

Roberts grew up in low-income housing, raised in a single-parent household. She remembers what it felt like to be part of the “have nots” while quietly believing there was more ahead.

That experience shapes her work every day.

“Growing up where resources were limited taught me the importance of showing up for people without judgment,” she says. “I know what it feels like to want more out of life.”

In practice, that translates into cultural humility, patience, and listening before assuming. It means explaining diagnoses thoroughly. It means follow-up calls. It means asking questions that go beyond lab values.

She filters every business decision through one standard: How would I want my family treated?

Compassion, accessibility, integrity, and community aren’t buzzwords on a brochure. They show up in the way she greets patients, in how she structures her hours, and in the effort to make care approachable. BAR Health operates Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., with Tuesdays by appointment. The clinic closes on weekends, pausing for lunch midday during the week — a reminder that even caregivers need care.

Health Equity, Close to Home

Practicing in Brunswick and the Golden Isles carries weight. The region is rich in culture and history, but it also bears longstanding health disparities.

“Community isn’t just part of the vision,” Roberts says. “It is the vision.”

BAR Health’s work extends beyond exam rooms. Through outreach, partnerships, and education, the clinic positions itself not just as a healthcare provider but as a neighbor. Roberts is certified through the American Academy of HIV Medicine as an HIV Specialist, allowing her to deliver specialized care to people living with HIV — a critical service in a region where stigma and access barriers can still run deep.

Her goal is simple, even if the work is not: make healthcare feel accessible, compassionate, and inviting.

“I hope people feel safe,” she says. “I hope they feel respected. I hope they leave feeling empowered.”

The Unseen Side of Ownership

Entrepreneurship, Roberts is quick to point out, is not glamorous.

“It’s consistent problem-solving, self-reflection, doubt, fear, and growth,” she says. “Failure isn’t a setback. It’s a stepping stone.”

One of her biggest challenges has been balancing the heart of the work with the realities of running a business. Healthcare is personal. Payroll, overhead, and sustainability are not sentimental.

“It taught me that passion needs a plan,” she says. “Both are necessary.”

Growth, at this stage, looks less like flashy expansion and more like stability: strengthening systems, expanding the patient base thoughtfully, building trust, and protecting time for her husband and their four daughters. On evenings and weekends, when the clinic lights are off, the family bakes, travels, and creates memories that have nothing to do with billing codes.

Her husband, she says, has been her backbone on the hardest days — the pep talks, the steady encouragement, the reminder that quitting isn’t the lesson she wants her daughters to learn.

“They’re watching to see if mommy is practicing what she’s preaching,” she says with a smile.

A Legacy Beyond the Clinic

The next chapter for BAR Health isn’t only about adding patients. It’s about multiplying impact.

Roberts wants to mentor nurse practitioners who feel called to ownership but don’t know where to start. She remembers that uncertainty well.

“You don’t have to have everything figured out to start,” she says. “You learn by doing. Adjusting. Staying committed. Know your worth from the beginning. Just get started.”

For her, ownership has meant becoming more courageous, more patient, more grounded. It has meant trusting instincts and leaning into faith when the path isn’t clear.

“Faith and fear both require you to believe in something you can’t see,” she says. “You choose.”

Staying Connected

BAR Health is located at 2211 Bartow Street in Brunswick. Appointments and information are available at www.mybarhealth.com, and the clinic can be reached at 912-209-5444. The practice is also active on social media at @BARHealth.

But Roberts hopes what people remember most isn’t the address or the hours. It’s the feeling.

“BAR Health was built with love, intention, and a deep commitment to the people we serve,” she says. “We’re here to make healthcare feel personal again.”

On Bartow Street, that mission is already in motion — one patient, one conversation, one steady act of care at a time.