 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Clinic Cures Community
Watch This Video
| Windows Media |
  |
| QuickTime | |
| MPEG |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|||
|
As the cost of health care coverage rises, so does the number of uninsured families. Lack of health insurance often means no access to a doctor. Not so in central Florida, where churches have stepped in to help families get the care they need – for free. Kim Riemland reports. |
|||
 |
|||
 |
New Items | Additional Stories | Archives | ||
SCRIPT:
(Locator: Orlando, Florida)
As the sun sets in central Florida…
Nurse to patient: “There you go.”
…things get busy at Shepherd’s Hope Health Centers.
Volunteer: “If we can keep the flow going, we can see 30 patients in an
evening, with two doctors.”
This public school building by day becomes a free medical clinic two
evenings a week…
Nurse to patient: “I’m gonna take your blood pressure.”
…staffed entirely
by volunteers.
Nann Carmine, Volunteer: “You know it’s a wonderful sense of
satisfaction to know that we are helping people who truly need the help. “
William Scott, Patient’s Father: “Well, the little guy’s got a bit of a
diaper rash he can’t seem to break.”
One-year-old Seth’s parents couldn’t afford to take him to a doctor –
but make too much to qualify for Medicaid. “Typical dilemma,” says
United Methodist pastor William S. Barnes, who brought the idea of a
community clinic to his congregation a decade ago.
The Rev. William S. Barnes, St. Luke’s United Methodist Church: “We have so
many people who are working part time jobs in the parks, in the
entertainment community, a lot of persons who are involved in the
hospitality industry who don’t have insurance benefits.”
This medical ministry has since grown to nine health care centers, run
by 2,000 volunteers from 20 different churches. But enough with the
numbers – it’s the individuals they serve who really count.
Melissa Whaley, Patient: “And I have no insurance and there was nobody
in the world to help me, but this place helped me.”
Melissa Whaley’s been having seizures. Here, she got a free doctor’s
visit, free medication, and – most valuable – compassionate care.
Melissa Whaley, Patient: “I met the
doctor for the first time and he shook my hand and he looked at me as a
person, not a paycheck.”
Doctor to patient: “I want you to take one tablet twice a day for five
days.”
More than sixty-thousand people have found hope and healing since
Shepherd’s Hope began.
The Rev. William S. Barnes, St. Luke’s United Methodist Church: “It simply
is caring people, caring for other people.”
TAG:
Most doctors volunteer for one shift a month. All
positions in the clinics are voluntary – from the doctors and nurses to
the clerical workers.
Medications are donated by physician’s offices, or purchased (with
donations) by Shepherd’s Hope.
For more information call 407-876-6699 or visit
www.shepherdshope.org.
Also, see:
Church-run clinics help families get needed care