Cape health clinic in need of donations

A Cape Girardeau clinic focused on helping uninsured and at-risk populations in the community may be forced to reduce operations because of a lack of funding.

Samaritan Regional Health Clinic — located at 24 N. Sprigg St. — was created in 2012 to help those who have no other avenues, CEO Gwen Maloney said. The clinic, funded by donations and grants and staffed solely by volunteers, provides medical care to people who do not have private insurance, Medicare or Medicaid. Last year, the clinic had 850 visits.

Around three months ago the clinic lost a major donor, and in a few months they will likely be forced to downsize at a time they need to be expanding, Maloney said. The clinic's $2,500 a month rent will eventually become to much for Samaritan's financial situation.

"We opened it with the idea that there are so many people that fall through the cracks, as far as health care, that we wanted to provide that health care to those individuals," Maloney said.

Dr. Matthew Hileman, assistant medical director for the clinic, said many of the patients they see have nowhere else to go. Many are homeless. Many have chronic illnesses such as diabetes that will result in emergency room visits if not treated regularly by medication or primary care visits.

Hileman and Maloney said they are often a line of defense between someone needing to go to the emergency room because of chronic illnesses that are left untreated. Maloney told the story of a 20-year-old diabetes patient who was regularly in the intensive care unit for ketoacidosis from his diabetes prior to getting care through Samaritan. Since he began going to the clinic and getting treatment, the patient has not been back to the emergency room for diabetes related reasons, she said.

"I think, in the long run, we save the community a lot of money because we're not bogging down the ERs with patients," Maloney said.

The clinic does get patient referrals from Southeast Hospital and Saint Francis Medical Center.

Samaritan provides comprehensive medical care, Hileman said, including primary care visits, lab tests, and even minor surgeries.

Most of the care comes at no cost to the patients, Maloney and Hileman said. The clinic has numerous standard medications on hand and can distribute them through its designation as a dispensary. For more expensive treatments, such as patients whose medication is upward of $100,000 annually, the clinic is able to apply for free medications through patient assistance programs offered by drug companies.

Hileman said quality medical care cannot only improve the physical and mental health of patients, but can allow them to better themselves in other ways.

"Some of the most impressive success stories have been the real down-and-out people," Hileman said.

Clinic volunteers have seen patients return to the workforce and improve their quality of life as a result of the medical care, Hileman said.

The clinic recently received a grant of $2,000 from the Fraternal Order of Eagles Auxiliary 3775 for new diabetes medicine and supplies. Maloney said the money will help tremendously with medications.

The needs for Samaritan are numerous, including more volunteers, storage space, and, of course, donations, Maloney said.

"We feel strongly that this is an effort the community needs to back us with because it's something the community needs to keep us healthy, the whole community," Maloney said. "You know, if we can keep part of that community healthy then we've done that for the whole community."