Home / News & Publications / Michigan Catholic News / 2008 / Clinics take on more clientele as economic crisis continues
Clinics take on more clientele as economic crisis continues
by Kristin Lukowski of The Michigan Catholic
Published July 18, 2008
Editor's note: This is the fourth story in an occasional series on the impact of the economic crisis and the Church's search for solutions.
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Kristen Lukowski | The Michigan Catholic
Sr. Pat Malone, RSM, bottom left, and volunteers (left to right) Beryl Munson, RN, Pat Lindey, RN, and Bernadette Briguglio are some of the many people who serve others at Fr. Pop's Clinic, which recently moved to a new location in Pontiac. |
Pontiac — With the economy's downturn, and the job losses that come with that, people are losing their health insurance. And without insurance, they often turn to free or low-cost clinics.
One such clinic Fr. Pop's Clinic, which has been serving the uninsured and underinsured out of the basement of the Shrine Parish of St. Joseph, Pontiac for 34 years. In April, the clinic officially moved to an office building just off Woodward Avenue, in the shadow of St. Vincent de Paul Parish and closer to major bus routes — offering the same care to clients in a roomier and more professional setting.
Now, clients don't have to climb up and down basement steps, and the office has two private restrooms, a far cry from going outside to a shared facility, as they had to do at the old location.
"We're blessed," said Sr. Pat Malone, RSM, who has been ministering through the clinic for more than 20 years, and is now 82. "We do what we can."
The clinic, open every Wednesday afternoon and evening, serves clients primarily by offering Vitamin B12 shots, a nutrient often poorly absorbed by people with nutrient-deficient diets, the elderly, or those who abuse alcohol. Extended B12 deficiency can cause nerve damage if left untreated.
Clients can get B12 shots from their doctor if they have insurance, but that often costs a doctor's visit and time waiting for treatment, explained Sr. Malone. The $3 they charge for a shot helps pay for the clinic's rent, and for medical supplies. "They're very happy they can come to do that," she said of the shots.
Sr. Malone says the clinic has been seeing more people lately, especially for the B12 shots. Within the last two years, the B12 registry has grown to include 1,200 people — they see anywhere from 80 to 110 people for the shots on a given week, with some of those getting blood pressure checks and doctor referrals — and there are about 150 people on a registry to see a doctor when they can be available to volunteer their time, too.
Beryl Munson, a volunteer nurse, said that they see many people losing their jobs, and therefore losing their health insurance. "Some people can't afford the $3, even," added volunteer Bernadette Briguglio. Sometimes, clients will donate $5 for a shot to help cover the cost of people who can't afford one. That money and donations help cover the operating costs of the clinic.
Cabrini Clinic, at the former Most Holy Trinity Parish School in Detroit's Corktown neighborhood, hosts a primary care clinic for uninsured adults Tuesday evenings and Thursday afternoons and evenings, and a mental health clinic `Wednesday afternoon. Clinic director and former hospital administrator Sr. Mary Ellen Howard, RSM, said it's hard to tell if more people have been using the clinic's services lately since the phones never stop ringing.
The clinic's patient openings were full before, and are still full now, she said. "Before the economy took a nosedive, there was a much greater demand than we're able to meet at Cabrini Clinic," Sr. Howard said. "Since the economy took a nosedive, there's a much greater demand than we're able to meet a Cabrini Clinic."
She's found that the city of Detroit is underserved for primary care, and for the uninsured it's even worse. "It's desperate," she said, adding that the only thing that could fix the problem was health care reform.
If someone loses their job, their first concerns are paying the rent and getting food on the table, not health insurance, she said. The most utilized service at Cabrini Clinic is prescription assistance, which, for example, for a diabetic who needs insulin, can mean the difference between life and death.
"The problem is people are dying for lack of health care," she said.
What keeps Fr. Pop's Clinic — named for Fr. Edward Popielarz, who started it in 1974 — going more than any other thing, said Sr. Malone, are the volunteers that come in Wednesdays to lend a hand. "We're able to operate because of our volunteers," she said. "Volunteers are the most important people that we have."
They try to schedule doctors to come in when they can, and try to have different specialists come in on different weeks. Regulars include two obstetricians-gynecologists, an internist, a cardiologist, and a few others, but Sr. Malone says they could easily open the clinic another day if they had the doctors to donate their time.
Volunteers also keep track of discount drug programs at local pharmacies, to determine which program would help which client best. Even clients have volunteered to clean the new office's carpet, and helped move furniture into the new space. The new office has separate reception, counseling, injection and examination areas, to help with privacy.
Munson pointed out that many clients are from outside of Pontiac, but from as far away as St. Clair Shores, Dearborn, Lapeer and Howell. Clinic volunteers with work with other free clinics to see if there's one closer to where a client lives.
Volunteers also help keep consultations free, and keep people involved who want to help, not who just want a paycheck. "I think they take the Gospel, that Christ came to serve, very seriously," said volunteer nurse Pat Lindey.
Although Fr. Pop's Clinic isn't on Church property anymore, it's still identified as a Catholic clinic through its origin and mission. "Many times we hear, 'I don't know what I would do,'" Munson said.
"It's the right thing to do," Brugiglio added. "It's the right, Christian thing to do."
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Series: impact of the economic crisis and the Church's search for solutions
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