Thursday, October 23, 2008
Center is healthy source of hope
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Shanna Flowers is The Roanoke Times' metro columnist.
Shanna Flowers
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At 6 p.m. Tuesday, the doors opened to the Belmont Community Health Center's monthly clinic.
By 6:15, the place was swarming with people from Southeast Roanoke and a few who had driven from other parts of the city to get a free flu shot or have their blood pressure checked.
Christy Lee, 35, a Medicaid recipient visiting the clinic for the first time, showed up with her 2-year-old son, Robert. Cynthia Johnson, who has no insurance and does not qualify for Medicaid, stood patiently in the flu-shot line.
Tim Strader, who is on disability, ducked in for a flu shot.
They are the faces behind the statistics in a survey completed earlier this year by the Belmont health center with the University of Virginia.
Among the survey's major findings:
n One-third of Belmont residents rated their overall health and dental health as fair or poor.
n 35 percent of respondents said they went to the emergency room for medical services.
n 31 percent said they have never visited a dentist or it has been more than three years since their last visit.
n 60 percent said they do not have dental insurance.
n 11 percent said they have no health coverage.
The survey -- and the people at Tuesday night's clinic and hundreds like them -- is the reason the Belmont Community Health Center has stepped up its effort to expand its medical advocacy role through patient education and referrals.
"Some of these people feel they don't have a right to ask questions because they don't have insurance," said Malora Horn, the center's part-time project coordinator and only employee.
The two-year-old nonprofit organization uses donated space for an office at Belmont Christian Church and holds the monthly clinics in the church parlor.
But it is an independent group that one day wants to have a stand-alone medical clinic much like Northwest Roanoke's New Horizons Healthcare, said board member Brenda Allen.
For now, Belmont sponsors health clinics at the church on the third Tuesday of the month, conducts screenings at community fairs and events, and Horn follows up with patients on the phone.
The group is actively trying to ramp up the advocacy operation. It is in the process of soliciting retired physicians to volunteer a few hours a month.
Their work would include basic physical exams, monitoring chronic diseases such as asthma, diabetes and hypertension or reviewing medications if a patient brings them in.
"People need someone to listen to them," said Horn, who works full time as the Roanoke schools liaison for homeless students. "What are your needs? Where can we help you get services?
"We want to connect people to the services," she added. "It's about empowering people."
The key is for residents to act on the advice they get, Horn said.
"So what are you going to do about it? It's about social change and advocacy," she said.
The center expects to treat 325 people this year, double the number since its start in 2006. That doesn't include multiple visits by the same person.
The service's budget this year is $120,000, some of which goes to pay Horn's part-time salary, pay for flu shots, mailings and other operational costs. The money comes from grants and donations.
The city's Southeast quadrant, home to about 8,000 Roanokers, is disproportionately low-income and home to many elderly, census data show.
The area, which sits a few miles from Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital, has been deemed by the federal government as "medically underserved." No primary care physicians practice in the immediate area, Horn said.
"I live in Southeast. I grew up in Southeast. I see the need in Southeast," said Allen, a full-time administrative assistant at Wachovia bank who volunteers about 10 hours a week for the health center.
To quantify the community's health care needs, the board worked with UVa to conduct a survey. Last fall, surveyors made phone calls and conducted door-to-door polls with 340 Southeast residents. The sampling confirmed a greater need for health care services.
The results were completed in March but have only recently been released to the public. The center has used them in private presentations to supporters and volunteers. Additionally, a class at Jefferson College of Health Sciences is using the statistics as part of an assignment to become more involved in the community.
Johnson, who received a flu shot Tuesday, said her husband earns $11 an hour and her family doesn't qualify for Medicaid. He has health coverage through work for him and their son, 9-year-old Steven. But to add her would be an additional $90 a week, she said.
"It could not be a better need in the world to have this," said Johnson, 52, who has rheumatoid arthritis and early stage skin cancer.
Although the survey found that 88 percent said they have some type of insurance, my interviews suggested many residents likely are underinsured.
Strader, 32, said his two children, ages 5 and 2, receive Medicaid. His wife works, and he's on her coverage -- nominally.
"Let me put it this way, I need glasses, and I can't afford it," he said.
I asked Strader where he would be without clinics such as the Belmont health center. He didn't hesitate.
"Out of luck."
