by Jennifer Kowalewski
New income guidelines mean more
uninsured area residents can head to the Free Clinic.
Community Service Programs (CSP)
can now reach more people in need. Because federal poverty
guidelines were changed, more individuals and families
throughout Athens County are eligible, without cost to them, to
receive the clinic’s services.
Melanie Moynan-Smith,
CSP certified nurse practitioner, says the changed guidelines
went into effect Aug. 8, allowing more of the county’s 18 to
64-year-olds with no medical insurance to be served by the
clinic. The new guidelines allow for a family of one with a
gross annual income up to $14,355 and no medical insurance to be
eligible for the clinic’s services. The new guidelines also
allow an additional $4,890 of income per each additional family
member.
Previous guidelines allowed for
a maximum income of $9,570 for a single-person family.
“Our mission is to provide
health-care services, including screening services, episodic
care and prevention and health education,” Moynan-Smith says.
“We also want to educate health-care professionals and medical
students to the needs of the underserved and uninsured and
advocate for them to obtain access to needed community
resources.”
The clinic not only evaluates
patients who do not have primary care physicians, it is the
first step towards getting people to have regular primary care
physicians, says Christopher Simpson, D.O., an associate
professor of family medicine who is part of the clinic’s staff.
The clinic also provides its clients with a list of resources by
which medical and health-care needs outside of the scope of the
clinic’s services can be met.
“Even though the clinic cannot
see people outside its eligibility guidelines, there are other
places of which we can inform them as well,” Simpson says.
Moynan-Smith says that the idea
for free clinical services originated with the Healthy Adult
Project, a CSP program. HAP screens residents for health
problems such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol and
diabetes.
CSP felt a real need to provide
other diagnostic and preventive services that could improve the
lives of local uninsured residents in addition to the services
provided directly through HAP. The clinic, for instance,
evaluates for other serious health conditions such as thyroid
problems and hypertension.
“The most important thing is to
capture those people who weren’t getting medical care,” says
Debbie White, R.N., CSP nurse consultant.
Those wishing to see if they
qualify for the program or to schedule an appointment should
call CSP at (800) 844-2654 or (740) 593-2432. The free clinic
operates from 1 to 4:30 p.m. Thursdays at the Federal Resource
Center in Stewart. Stewart is 10 miles west of Athens along
State Route 329, off Route 50 at Guysville.
For serious illness or accident,
please seek immediate treatment at the nearest hospital or
contact an emergency service.
The clinic is funded by grants
from the Sisters of St. Joseph Charitable Fund, OU-COM’s
Department of Family Medicine and the Appalachian Rural Health
Institute.
- 30 -
News for
the week of Sept 19 –
Sept 24
News for
the week of Sept 12 –
Sept 17
