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Free Clinic in Rolla helps those in need
 Judith
Ross found herself in a predicament when her husband became ill and had to
retire suddenly two years ago.
He was old enough to qualify for Medicare coverage. She was not.
Both have significant health problems, but Judith’s health
issues have landed her in the Phelps County Regional Medical Center
Emergency Room several times over the past two years.
She has diabetes, elevated cholesterol and coronary artery disease that has
required “too many stents” to be able to remember. She has been to
University of Missouri – Columbia five times for angioplasty procedures to
open her arteries.
Yet, the surprisingly upbeat woman hasn’t given up on
improving her quality of life. She watches her diabetic diet; exercises and
doesn’t smoke. Her biggest problem? Not having affordable access to primary
care and medication.
“Being able to afford going to the doctor is the main
problem,” the 62-year-old said. “I can’t always take the medication I need
and I haven’t regularly gone to the doctor to do blood work to see if my
cholesterol is under control.”
A Group Effort
Dr. Randall Huss, St. John’s Clinic
Rolla division president knows that people like Judith probably don’t have
their cholesterol under control and will probably get progressively sicker
since they don’t have regular access to primary care. That’s one reason
reason he worked with others to open St. John’s We Care Clinic in Rolla last
year.
St. John’s Foundation for Community Health donated the seed
money of $5,000 to get the clinic started and St. John’s donated the clinic
space and much of the equipment. Medical supply companies and pharmacies
have helped out, donating services and supplies.
The free clinic is open each Tuesday evening from 6 to 9
p.m. at 1601 N. Bishop in a building owned by St. John’s. It is staffed by
volunteer physicians and mid-level providers, a nurse, a receptionist and
student volunteers from the University of Missouri-Rolla. The clinic serves
about 30 patients each week – most of whom have no insurance, Medicare or
Medicaid and cannot afford to access other health care services.
In addition to providing acute care, the clinic focuses on
chronic illness management in the working poor population in Phelps and
surrounding counties.
The clinic coordinates with and refers to other community
resources for the underserved, such as Phelps County Health Department’s
Breast and Cervical Cancer Prevention Program, immunization program, WIC,
Community Care Clinic and mental health clinic, as well as Phelps County
Regional Medical Center.
“The response from our co-workers and providers has been
very encouraging,” Dr. Huss said. “Everyone is excited to contribute to this
worthy undertaking.”
In addition to recruiting primary care physicians to provide
care at the clinic, he also found specialists who were willing to provide
consultation visits and services at their offices at no charge for We Care
Clinic patients.
Some Good News
Dr. Huss gave Judith the good news on
her fifth visit to the clinic that her blood pressure was down from previous
visits and her blood sugar has decreased from the mid-200s to consistently
between 85-100. He credits Judith with some of that success.
“I’ve been awful good,” she jokes with the doctor. “I’d hate
to go hungry for nothing,” she said about maintaining a healthy diet.
Judith also took advantage of free diabetes education
offered though the clinic. She met with a dietitian and learned how to count
carbs.
“You’ve got to learn and do whatever you can,” she said.
St. John’s nurse practitioner Cheryl Dalton started the
diabetes education program with a $30,000 Mercy Caritas grant.
“I’m frustrated as a nurse practitioner that I don’t have
the time to educate diabetics. I see that when patients learn and get the
tools they need to empower them, they do better. I also see what can happen
if they don’t control their diabetes,” she said. She hopes to expand the
free program in the future.
Help With Prescription Costs
Another thing that helped Judith
improve her health was access to the medications she needs. Dr. Huss was
able to move her to generic prescriptions available at area retailers for $4
each, provided her with some free samples and connected her with St. John’s
Health System’s medication access program.
“My medicines were $170 for one prescription, $140 for
another, $70 for another and I just couldn’t afford them,” Judith explained.
All together, her medication costs per month totaled $606 each month. Now
she spends less than $50 a month.
“It has been a blessing, and each time I come here, there’s
more people being helped,” she said.
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