Pandemic sends patients to region’s only free health care clinic

When Gwen Maloney first heard of COVID-19, she knew it would only be a matter of time until it came to Southeast Missouri.

Maloney, a former nurse at Southeast Hospital, runs Samaritan Regional Health Clinic in downtown Cape Girardeau.

As she watched the number of COVID-19 cases rise, Maloney said she expected more patients to come to her clinic -- the only free health care clinic in the region.

"We anticipated it," Maloney said. "We didn't know how bad it would be and how long it would take people to realize we are here."

The clinic's patient load started picking up around March 2020. Maloney estimated Samaritan saw up to 50 patients a month before the pandemic. Now, the clinic has served up to 80.

Since the pandemic began, patients who have never had to seek free health care in their lives have filtered into the clinic, Maloney said.

"They've lost their job, they've lost their insurance," Maloney said. "Maybe they can still feed their family, but they can't afford health care, so we're seeing more patients as a result."

However, the clinic's small staff couldn't serve more patients even if they wanted to.

All of Samaritan's employees, from nurses to physicians, are volunteers. Since the pandemic began, fewer health care providers have had the time to lend their services to Samaritan.

"Hospitals have needed the nurses, they've needed some of the nurse practitioners we've had. They're getting sick too, you know," Maloney said. "One time, one of our providers called me and said, 'We've got three nurse practitioners and they're all out with COVID.'"

The clinic can only operate when health care providers are available. As a result, it's only open two days a week. The staff the clinic has struggles to fit all its new patients into those two days, Maloney said.

"We're constantly looking at ways to increase how many people we see," Maloney said.

Usually, the clinic has one doctor working at a time, Maloney said, because that's all it has room for.

Two exam rooms, a waiting area and a dispensary comprise the clinic. It lies inconspicuously on the ground floor of an office building, tucked behind Burrito-Ville on Broadway.

Though, despite its small staff and group of volunteers, Samaritan Regional Health Clinic still finds a way to gather resources.

The clinic is a member of the National Association of Free and Charitable Clinics (NAFC) and the Missouri Free Clinic Association. Through those entities, Samaritan receives supplies its health care providers would need to fight the virus such as masks, gowns and other protective gear. All are available to patients free of charge.

Through the NAFC, Samaritan also receives free medications it can dole out to patients free of cost. Patients only pay for care if they wish to leave a donation.

If there's a certain medication a patient can't afford but Samaritan doesn't have in stock, Maloney said she and clinic staff will help patients apply for the medication through NeedyMeds, a not-for-profit with a mission to assist people with health care costs.

"If you go to your doctor or a pharmacy and the medication is too expensive, don't be ashamed," she said. "A lot of times, people don't want to go back and tell the physician they couldn't afford the medication, so they just don't get it."

Maloney said the clinic tries to help the kind of people who "fall through the cracks."

Only patients who don't have health insurance, Medicaid or Medicare can utilize Samaritan's services. The clinic will not service patients who reach above 200% of the federal poverty level.

Maloney said Samaritan's staff takes an interest in all of their patients. They see parents who struggle to work enough hours to provide for their kids despite their health difficulties. They see people who suffer from curable illnesses because they can't afford medication, a trip to a doctor or emergency room.

Whoever they are, Maloney said they try to give them the health care they need, point them in the right direction or do something as simple as listening.

"We're not a huge clinic," Maloney said, "We know all our patients. We kind of make them our family."