THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, October 4, 1996 TAG: 9610030195
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 14 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: COVER STORY
SOURCE: BY PAM STARR, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 204 lines
EVERY MONTH OR SO, Barbara Jean Newton, a 50-year-old arthritis sufferer, walks 30 minutes from her Seatack apartment to the Beach Health Clinic on 22nd Street.
With no car and no job, Newton's only form of transportation is her feet. Sometimes, when she's lucky, the Boston native bums rides from neighbors. But most of the time she trudges to the free clinic and back home to Friendship Village because that's her only choice.
She, like every other patient at the clinic, has no health insurance.
``If the clinic wasn't here I'd be up the creek,'' said Newton, who also has asthma and reflux disease. ``I don't qualify for any assistance. The clinic really is my lifeline - even while I was working I couldn't afford health care.''
The Beach Health Clinic is celebrating its 10th year of service as the only free medical clinic in the city.
Uninsured residents like Newton with limited income are seen by a rotating staff of more than 150 volunteer doctors, nurses and specialists who are supported by 70 office volunteers. Three full-time and eight part-time workers, including a nurse practitioner, are the only paid staff.
The clinic didn't always operate with this kind of help. Founded as a mission project in 1986 by urologist Dr. Steve Warden, his wife Marguerite, a nurse, and First Presbyterian Church minister Dr. William Hawkins, the clinic serviced patients once a week at first. That year, the doctor and his wife saw 42 patients.
Its patient load has exploded. Last year, about 2,500 people used the clinic in 6,000 office visits.
Part of the reason, said executive director Jo Clare Hartsig, is because the city's Adult Medical Clinic closed its doors nearly a year ago. The Beach Health Clinic inherited those patients. Virginia Beach is also representative of the rest of the United States: more people can't afford health insurance or their employers don't offer any.
``The number of part-time workers has increased, most of whom don't qualify for insurance, and health insurance costs more to employees,'' said Hartsig, who has been with the clinic since last November. ``The nature of the workplace has changed and so has the nature of health insurance.''
But the clinic is a prime example of how people and organizations have come together to provide for the common good. Its $257,000 annual budget is met in part by funds from the United Way, the city, Trigon, Tidewater Health Care and Sentara Health Systems. The Virginia Health Care Foundation gave a three-year grant for a nurse practitioner in 1993. First Presbyterian Church donates thousands of dollars every year.
Virginia Beach General Hospital and Sentara hospitals provide diagnostic testing, lab work and needed surgeries, which Hartsig acknowledges as a ``real blessing.'' Ironically, the most expensive part of the clinic is the time and expertise of the volunteers.
``It's pretty impressive - we're a regular practice with a 220-member staff,'' Hartsig said with a laugh.
More support for the clinic arrived in July, when Eastern Virginia Medical School decided that its medical students would volunteer at the clinic as part of their training. Two female EVMS doctors - Preston Reynolds and Laura Post - also see clinic patients regularly on Wednesday nights.
And last month the clinic received an unexpected boost from Princess Anne Family Practice. The practice took its staff to the clinic on a Tuesday and Thursday night and provided everything. Dr. Steve Pearman, who is also the clinic's volunteer medical director, said that they plan to volunteer every month and hopes that other family practices will follow their example.
``This sounds cornball, but when I decided to study for the privilege of becoming a doctor, I always knew I wanted to at least give something back to the community,'' he said. ``I'd like to encourage every doctor to spend some time there - it could be just one night a year.''
Staff nurse practitioner Pamela Mumby sees patients 30 hours a week and has a back-up physician available by phone. She also calls (and begs, she says) doctors for referrals, supervises the nursing staff, develops quality assurance programs, does paperwork and performs follow-ups.
``A great deal of our time is spent accessing resources and explaining them to the patient,'' she said. ``A lot of our behind-the-scenes work is done by volunteer case managers. It's really the essence of what we do - direct care is just the tip of the iceberg.''
Last week, Mumby was perusing a few patient cases with Dr. Reynolds, the chief of the division of Internal Medicine at EVMS. They sat in the cramped kitchen (which doubles as a break room) over cups of coffee before the clinic opened for the evening.
``I think it's very important to take care of people regardless of their ability to pay,'' Reynolds said. She is working on a curriculum at EVMS on professional values and an EVMS plan to develop a multi-disciplinary women's health care center. ``This is the group who has fallen through the crevice, which has now turned into a canyon.''
Eight patients sat on vinyl chairs in the modest waiting room. One of them, 35-year-old Greg Newcomb, has been coming to the clinic for the past 18 months for back spasms and a herniated disc in his neck. A former stocker for Super Fresh, Newcomb left his job in 1993 because of his back pain and hasn't worked since.
``This is a great place for people without insurance,'' said Newcomb, a slightly built man who wears his long brown hair in a ponytail. ``It's a relief to come here - it's a tremendous job they do. I wouldn't be getting the help without them.''
Margaret Brown, 43, first came to the clinic last year because of a bout with cancer. The single mother works part time at the Navy Lodge as a desk clerk and has no health insurance.
``I have three teen-agers - I can't afford insurance,'' she said. ``We have to eat. I'm just glad this clinic is here. More of these clinics should be opened.''
Volunteers are the backbone, if not the entire body, of the health clinic. Mumby is supplemented by several doctors and registered nurses during the day as well as at night.
Retired doctor Rudolf Schuster has volunteered every Wednesday morning since he left his private practice in 1993. Schuster, 70, said he enjoys working at the clinic more than when he treated patients in his practice.
``It's a two-way street - you can do an awful lot of good and get justification for still being alive,'' said Schuster, a German native. ``I can spend as much time as I need; I can sit down and talk to the patients. It's a good institution.''
One of the nurses is 78-year-old Edna Keller. She has volunteered since 1988 and liked the clinic so much that she convinced her neighbor, Annetta Ballinger, to lend a hand as an office support volunteer. They work together every Thursday. Two volunteer Canadian nurses, Jackie Azaransky and Heather Loveridge, join them for lunch every Thursday after the morning shift.
``My husband says it costs his wife $10 a week to volunteer,'' joked Ballinger. ``But it's worth it for the camaraderie.''
The Canadians who volunteer at the clinic do so out of a sense of moral duty. Canada has socialized medicine, so it was a shock for Azaransky and Loveridge to enter the American health care system. Both husbands work for NATO.
``It's a bit horrifying - the first thing they ask at a doctor's office is how are you going to pay,'' Azaransky said. ``In Canada, no child is going to be deaf because of a lack of penicillin.''
Loveridge started volunteering at the clinic two years ago because she wanted to use her skills and meet a more diverse group of people. She likes being part of a team where everybody pitches in, she said.
``The first thing I did this morning was plunge the toilet,'' Loveridge said, laughing. ``You do what needs to be done.''
The clinic continues to evolve. It is now open three nights a week and five mornings a week (9 a.m. to 1 p.m.) and offers specialty clinics for diabetes, hypertension, dermatology, pediatrics and internal medicine.
New services include nutrition counseling, short-term mental health counseling and massage therapy. The clinic has been established as a site for Reilly School of Massotherapy students to gain practicum hours.
Director Hartsig, who also is an ordained United Church of Christ minister, said that they take a holistic approach to treating patients.
``I think there's some wholeness and healing issues that borders on the theological,'' Hartsig said. ``Pam (Mumby) does the whole person thing, which is a real credit to our program. We spend a lot of time listening to people.''
Hartsig is grateful for the volunteers and could use many more. Especially needed are pharmacy technicians, registered nurses, lab technicians and referral specialists.
The clinic also needs drug samples from doctors, hospitals and pharmaceutical companies. It gives away $15,000 worth of samples every month and often runs out of several drugs.
Hartsig's goals for the clinic include getting the business community involved because many patients work for companies that don't offer health insurance. Right now she's trying to get a dental clinic started for adults since there is ``absolutely no resource'' for adults with dental problems.
``It's easier to get brain surgery than a tooth filled,'' Hartsig said. ``We're asking the United Way for support, and Operation Smile is eager to help us. So we're very excited about the possibilities.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff photos including color cover by D. KEVIN ELLIOTT
Dr. Preston Reynolds checks a skin rash on Tiffany Calhoun, 6.
Reynolds is a student at Eastern Virginia Medical School and
volunteers at the Beach Health Clinic.
Sandra Humphrey, a registered nurse, deals with a prescription in
the pharmacy at the Beach Health Clinic.
Beach Health Clinic executive director Jo Clare Hartsig is also an
ordained United Church of Christ minister.
Cathy Lindsey, a medical assistant student at Tidewater Tech in
Virginia Beach, is a part-time receptionist at the clinic.
Dianne Lathrum, left, a certified medical assistant, and Meg Hale, a
hospital corpsman in the Navy, volunteer in the lab.
Above photo by D. KEVIN ELLIOTT; left photo by STEVE EARLEY
ABOVE: Dr. Laura Post, a medical student at Eastern Virginia Medical
School, volunteers at the clinic as part of her training. LEFT: Dr.
Steve Pearman of Princess Anne Family Practice is the clinic's
volunteer medical director.
Graphics
TO GET OR GIVE HELP
The Beach Health Clinic, 302 22nd St., is open from 9 a.m. to 1 or 2
p.m. Monday through Friday and 6 to 9:30 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday and
Thursday. Call 428-5601 for appointments or 428-6361 to volunteer.
BEACH HEALTH CLINIC SERVICES
[For complete listing of Health Clinic Services in Virginia Beach,
please see Microfilm.] by CNB