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How the legacy of Colorado’s first Black surgeon lives on in Denver’s Five Points

Dr. Bernard F. Gipson Sr.’s accomplishments – from treating Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to having a clinic named after him – defied racism and continue to inspire

DENVER — A portrait hanging on the wall reminds Candace Lartigue of who came before.

“When I walk in the doors here, I am part of a legacy,” said Lartigue, a nurse practitioner at Denver Health’s Eastside Family Health Center.

In the heart of the historic Five Points neighborhood, African American history runs deep. And at the country’s second oldest community health clinic, that history revolves around one man: Dr. Bernard F. Gipson Sr.