|
Demand rising at clinics for low-income
Published October 28, 2009
CLUTE — Staff at the Live Oak Clinic of Brazosport hurry about, scribbling information, checking temperatures and offering advice to people in need of treatment.
The pace at the Clute-based health care clinic has picked up dramatically in the past year, pushing the all-volunteer staff to the limit and forcing hopeful patients to wait hours before being seen — if they are seen at all.
“We are turning people away, every time,” clinic Executive Director Mary Fuchs said.
The increase in patient visits is happening at all of the county’s health care clinics for the low-income or uninsured, and clinic officials all say it is because of the sluggish economy, word of mouth and problems with negotiations about the University of Texas Medical Branch’s charity care program in the wake of Hurricane Ike.
PACKED WAITING ROOMS
Staff at Brazosport Medical Center, a Freeport-based clinic with a primary focus of serving those with Medicare and Medicaid, have treated 286 patients through the third quarter, Director Nola Copus said.
The medical center helped between 170 and 200 people per year before Hurricane Ike forced the changes in treatment options by the Galveston Island-based hospital branch, she said.
“I think it’s a combination of becoming more well-known and the economy,” Copus said.
Fuchs said dozens of people line up in the Live Oak Clinic’s waiting room each Thursday — the clinic is open 4:30 to 8 p.m. one day a week. Realistically, though, the health care professionals who volunteer there can see only about 16 people per night.
The clinic tries to address the problem by taking returning appointments first, then walk-ins on a first-come, first-served basis, but there is not enough support to offset demand.
“It’s hard,” Fuchs said.
TALKS WITH UTMB
Brazoria County officials still are negotiating terms of an agreement with the medical branch to provide services to indigent county residents, but Brazoria County District Attorney’s Office Civil Division Chief Jim Wiginton was blunt about the situation.
“I think they went out of the business of doing charity care,” said Wiginton, whose division is handling the negotiations. “They’ve been pretty high-handed in their negotiations all summer.
While medical branch physicians are seeing patients through telemedicine — offering medical treatment using the Internet and telephone — emergency care is up in the air and specialty care requires trips to Houston, Wiginton said.
Before Ike, UTMB used to take over an indigent patient’s expenses after Brazoria County’s bill had reached $30,000. In recent negotiations, hospital officials said they have to raise that amount to $60,000, Wiginton said.
UTMB also would give discount rates and charged about 35 percent of the actual costs, but now will charge 54 percent, Wiginton said.
“There are just lots of problems,” Wiginton said.
HELP WANTED
When the Live Oak Clinic opened in October 2007, Fuchs staffed two doctors, thinking the nonprofit operation would be inundated with people seeking medical assistance.
What she got, however, was an empty waiting room.
“We had two doctors and one patient apiece,” she said with a laugh.
But word of mouth about the level of care offered at the clinic, advertising at local stores and decreased treatment offered by the medical branch have changed things.
“We had two patients that night, but it has gotten tremendously busy here,” Fuchs said. “We’ve been here for a while now, and our costs — no one here gets paid, our docs, PAs are volunteer — are low.”
To account for the higher demand, the clinic is seeking volunteers of all types — doctors, physicians assistants, nurses, social workers and clerical workers, Fuchs said.
“The more, the better,” Fuchs said.
People interested in volunteering at the clinic can visit www.liveoakclinic.org for information, Fuchs said. Aspiring volunteers are asked to contact the clinic at 979-388-0809.
Nathaniel Lukefahr is a reporter for The Facts. Contact him at 979-237-0151.
Share |
Save |
Mail |
Print
|
|
|
 |
|
Click for all
Top Ads listing
|
