Macon Volunteer Clinic has 9th anniversary

Sharon Ward found her way to the Macon Volunteer Clinic seven years ago. A self-employed tax consultant, she had learned firsthand how difficult life without medical insurance can be.

Unable to find treatment for her illnesses, she was referred to the clinic, where she finally got the medical care she needed.

“They literally saved my life,” she said.

Ward said she views the staff as family. There’s a personable atmosphere, and she appreciates that the doctors treat her like an individual -- and pray with her on a regular basis.

“This is like my home away from home.”

The Macon Volunteer Clinic marked its ninth anniversary Feb. 18. The clinic, located just off Ingleside Avenue, has been operating since 2003 and has served more than 2,500 patients, Executive Director Cile Lind said.

The need is evident. The clinic had a 20 percent growth rate in just the past year. Open just two days a week initially, it now provides appointments Monday through Thursday.

Lind says the clinic’s work is vital because the rate of working adults in Bibb County who are uninsured is about 18 percent, compared to the national rate of about 13 percent. The clinic now sees more than 900 uninsured workers.

It’s the only clinic in Bibb County that provides free primary dental care, labs, X-rays, ophthalmology services and nonnarcotic prescriptions, Lind said. The clinic also provides free screenings, including mammograms and Pap smears, and it has a lab area.

The dream for the clinic began in 2001, when retired physician Chapin Henley gathered a group of volunteers to research other volunteer clinics in the Southeast.

Things began to fall into place for the clinic when McNeil Laboratories and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation funded training for volunteers. Coliseum Health System donated the building, and the Community Foundation of Central Georgia financed its renovation. Other donors such as the MedCen Community Health Foundation and the Peyton Anderson Foundation supported startup costs, preliminary research and fundraising to get the clinic up and running.

The clinic still receives donations from large companies and foundations as well as businesses and individuals to keep it running.

How it works

Potential new patients come in every Thursday at 2 p.m. for a screening to see if they fit the guidelines for treatment. To be considered, patients must be actively employed, live in Bibb County, be uninsured and be between the ages of 18 and 64. They also must not exceed income limits.

The clinic’s typical patient, Lind said, is a black woman in her 40s or 50s who is an hourly worker.

“Someone who puts her children and family first and neglects her health until something catastrophic happens,” she said. “A lot of our patients are one paycheck away from disaster.”

If patients neglect a condition for too long, Lind said, they can end up in an emergency room, where they could face costly fees and maybe time away from work.

There are always needs at the clinic. These days, the clinic is looking in particular for donors to purchase glucometers, lancets and testing strips for its large number of diabetic patients.

James Waller is a diabetic patient who has received treatment from the clinic for the past two years.

Waller and his wife were referred to the clinic when she contracted bronchitis, and the cost of their medication became too much.

Waller said his wife gets medication for her bronchitis, and he gets insulin for his diabetes. He said he just got an eye exam to see if he needs glasses.

What impresses him most about the clinic, he said, is the personal attention each patient gets.

“I used to feel like a dollar sign, but now I feel like a person,” he said. “They don’t put you down for the situation you’re under.”

Dr. John O’Shaughnessy, who volunteers at the clinic and is newly elected chairman of the board, said he once had a patient come in with persistent symptoms of a cold. A chest X-ray helped determine that the man actually had an active case of tuberculosis.

The patient responded well to antibiotics and was able to return to work after several months.

O’Shaughnessy said the staff at the clinic also looks for help for patients whose income is too high to meet the income limits for treatment but who are still struggling. Because several of the volunteers are retired doctors, O’Shaughnessy said, they still know practicing doctors and are able to make connections for their patients who need outside care.

Lind said she marvels at what the clinic is able to do to help the community, especially during the tough economic times that recent years have brought.

“It’s just amazing to me the things that you can do when you have like-minded people coming together to make it happen,” she said. “What we do and the things we’re able to accomplish are amazing.”

To contact writer Liz Bibb, call 744-4425.

This story was originally published March 5, 2012 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Macon Volunteer Clinic has 9th anniversary."