Her hair was short, clean cut and stylish for a woman in her early 60‘s. A silvery gray, it complemented her crisp, watery blue eyes. Those same eyes flickered with excitement when she was asked to do an interview and quickly filled with tears when she began to tell her story.
“ I always worked most of my life. I always paid my own way. I always had insurance and never worried about it,” Pat Frank said, her voice beginning to quaver.
“I lost my job a year ago and have not been able to find work. All of a sudden you have no insurance and boom, something happens. I had a mammogram and they found something…What do you do? Where do you turn?”
After months of trying to find doctors that would treat her without insurance, she turned to the Judeo Christian Health Clinic on MacDill Avenue in Tampa . Lifting her delicately framed glasses to wipe the tears away, Frank said, “ I am just so grateful there’s a place like this for people because I don’t know what I would do otherwise.”
On any weekday morning, long lines to get into the Judeo Christian Healthcare clinic, sometimes start as early as 3 a.m. The doors open up at 9 a.m. Last year it served over 28,000 patients. The Executive Director of the clinic, Kelly Elizabeth Bell said it is one of the few places in Tampa Bay that offers free health care to those whose income falls slightly above the poverty level and, “who do not qualify for Medicare or Medicaid.”
“The folks who come here are hard working, work in regular jobs, but can’t afford insurance or maybe aren’t offered insurance through their employers.”
With unemployment in Florida at an all time high at 11.2%, more than 340,000 Floridians have lost their jobs over the past year. Myrna Robinson, a seven-year volunteer at the Judeo Christian Health Clinic said the rise in unemployment has changed the demographic and number of the patients.
“When I first started coming to the clinic, most of the last names were Hispanic. And I notice now… a lot of the new patients…have non-Hispanic names. I’ve seen an increase in the type of person that’s coming here. The people who have had insurance lost their jobs because of the financial problems and now don’t have insurance because of the loss of jobs.”
Help for those unemployed and uninsured may be on the way. Congress is one step closer to health care reform as the Senate narrowly voted last weekend to begin debate on the Democrat’s $848 billion health care bill.
In a report released Monday by US Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, there are four million Floridian residents do not have health insurance, but would be covered if the bill is passed. And according to the Courthouse News Service, it is estimated to extend coverage to 31 million more Americans, covering 94% of Americans.
“National health insurance cannot come too soon,” Robinson said.
As a volunteer at the clinic for so many years, Robinson said she has seen countless situations where a national health care system would have dramatically helped people.
“A lady in our community that had insurance, lost her job and at that time lost her insurance. After that she felt some lumps in her breast. The tumors in her breasts weighed 40 pounds and they were so heavy that when she laid on her back they cracked three ribs. She could not receive medical care anywhere-doctors or hospitals. I think if we had national health care…she would have not been in that predicament. She would have been able to receive medical care soon enough.”
Pat Frank said, “ I would have gotten the help I needed a lot sooner.”
The Judeo Christian Healthcare Clinic was founded in 1972 by Reverend James Holmes of the St. John Presbyterian Church.
“He felt that people who didn’t have healthcare deserved a place to get it, “ Bell said. “So they started one night a week in the Sunday School classroom in their Church with one doctor and one nurse, just seeing a couple a patients at a time. The need grew and so did the clinic.”
Thanks to donations, Bell said they upgraded and moved into the 7,000 sq ft state of the art building they currently reside in now. It has 13 exam rooms, a dental clinic, a fully stocked state licensed pharmacy and an eye clinic that Bell said, “allows us to see as many people as we can.”
“Donations are very important,” Bell said, “ whether from organizations, private contributors or individuals, no matter how big or small.”
As 501( c ) non-profit, the Judeo Christian Healthcare Clinic runs solely on donations and volunteers.
“We don’t get any government funding,” Bell said.
“And I understand why volunteers are so important,” Robinson said, “…there’s only a staff of four paid employees so that the money can go to treat as many patients as possible.”
And Pat Frank appreciates that. “ I’m sure there’s a lot of people out there who don’t even know about this( place) which is a great thing to have. I’m very thankful and very humbled to be able to have something that I can go to and that can help me.”
People who want to apply for health care at the Judeo Christian Health Clinic should bring a month’s work of paychecks and a photo id to its location at 4118 N. MacDill Ave between 9 and 11 am. For more information visit www.judeochristianhealthclinic.org.
This article appears in Nov 25 – Dec 1, 2009.