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October 29, 2007 - The Times-Picayune
Clinic to serve uninsured workers
By Kate Moran
Catholic Charities has begun gathering support from religious congregations across the city to open a faith-based health center for the working poor, the population that makes too much money to qualify for government benefits but too little to afford private health insurance.
The project's backers say they envision a clinic where doctors and nurses do more than react to illnesses by prescribing drugs. Medical staff would also develop diet and exercise regimens for patients and keep up with them by phone in between office visits to make sure they are taking their medications.
"You will not just leave the doctor's office having had a checkup," said Guy Fournier, director of project planning at Catholic Charities. "You will leave with a very specific plan for what you can do to manage your own health and wellness."
Although Catholic Charities floated the concept of a faith-based health center, the clinic will not be an offshoot of the archdiocese. Dr. Elmore Rigamer, medical director of Catholic Charities, said his group is simply a "convener" that is bringing many denominations together in support of the health center.
Organizers are searching for a building to house the clinic in either Mid-City or eastern New Orleans, two areas lacking in primary care services. Early next year, they also plan to solicit donations from local businesses, religious congregations and charitable foundations to build on major gifts.
Baptist Community Ministries provided $250,000 to support planning and development of the clinic over two years, and the national office of Catholic Charities has agreed to give $500,000 to support operations once the clinic opens. The American Society of Clinical Pathologists this month raised $13,000 for the clinic during its annual conference, which was held this year in New Orleans.
Memphis clinic a model
While religious congregations will provide an important base of financial support for the clinic, its founders also want them to play a role in educating the faithful about proper nutrition and health maintenance. Because the clinic will not affiliate with any one denomination, ministers across the city can refer members of their flock to the health center for blood-pressure screenings, diabetes checkups and other services designed to fend off illness before it becomes debilitating.
"It is very effective in that people work within their own faith tradition," said Janet DiLeo Wade, the nurse who first promoted the idea of a faith-based health center in New Orleans. "People that you practice your faith with every week are the ones giving you health information. There is a tremendous amount of trust there."
Wade evacuated to Memphis, Tenn., during Hurricane Katrina and spent four months volunteering at a health center founded by Dr. Scott Morris, who is also an ordained Methodist minister. Morris opened the clinic two decades ago, and today it serves 50,000 patients and commands a budget of several million dollars, all raised through private donations.
Wade said she was impressed that the Memphis clinic pushed diet, exercise and weight control and worked with pastors and church volunteers to provide basic health education after religious services.
"What impressed me about the program is that the staff follow patients on a regular basis to make sure they're adhering to their treatment plan," she said. "This empowers people to take care of themselves because they are given opportunities for health education."
Not seeking a handout
Like the church health center in Memphis, the clinic under development in New Orleans would serve only the working poor -- not the unemployed or destitute, who are often eligible for Medicaid. Organizers said the working poor, including many hotel and restaurant staff, often have difficulty finding a doctor because they do not qualify for government insurance and do not have benefits through their employer.
As a result, this group of uninsured patients often seeks basic medical care through private hospital emergency rooms -- a practice that has become all the more common since Charity Hospital and its affiliated clinics closed after Katrina. Catholic Charities said it's trying to relieve widespread dependence on emergency departments, where waits are long and treatment is expensive, by expanding access to primary care.
Rigamer said he hopes businesses will support a clinic designed for the working uninsured, a group that will not appear to be asking for a handout. Patients at the clinic will also be expected to share in the cost of their health care by paying a fee based on their income.
"This appeals to businesses, because these people are showing responsibility, but because of the system they do not have health care," Rigamer said.
Rigamer said about 20 cities have replicated the Memphis health care model, and that New Orleans should welcome a new addition to its constellation of charitable clinics, which have become a critical component of the health safety net since Charity closed after the storm.
"We ought to be open to all sorts of models here," he said. "This is the time to experiment."
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