News
Email
Print
Treating Those Without: Clinic in Mooresville turns out to be a life saver for one patient when it was determined that he was suffering from colon cancer
Media General News Service Photo
Nurse Greta Moretz takes a blood sample from a patient at HealthReach Community Clinic in Mooresville. The clinic, which offers health care for people with little or no money, works at keeping its costs down so the clinic can continue.
ADVERTISEMENT
Published: January 2, 2009
MOORESVILLE
When volunteers for the HealthReach Community Clinic went to the Soup Kitchen a few months ago to offer the ministry's clients some basic testing, they knew that they would find people in need of their help. What they didn't expect was the opportunity to save a life.
Executive director Rory Crawford said that volunteers, who were offering such basics as blood-sugar and blood-pressure testing, were approached by a man who was complaining of problems that they thought should be examined more closely.
"They decided to bring him in to the clinic," Crawford said. "It was clear he had some GI (gastrointestinal) issues."
Crawford said that Dr. Stephen Stowe, who runs a GI specialty clinic and who volunteers at HealthReach, took a look at the patient and quickly became concerned about his health.
"He didn't really like what he was seeing," Crawford said.
Stowe referred the patient to Lake Norman Regional Medical Center, where his suspicions were confirmed.
"The gentleman had colon cancer, and it was serious," Crawford said.
The clinic, Crawford said, worked with Dr. Stowe and the hospital to line the patient up with a specialist. In the end, the patient needed surgery, Crawford said, but it saved his life.
"He had about 30 to 60 days before this would have been terminal," Crawford said. "The guy is now cancer free."
Stories such as this one, Crawford said, highlight what a valuable service the HealthReach Community Clinic provides for low-income patients in Mooresville.
The clinic serves residents of Mooresville, Troutman and Mount Mourne who make less than 200 percent of the poverty level and who have no insurance, including Medicaid and Medicare.
But HealthReach's services, Crawford said, are becoming more and more costly to provide in this struggling economy.
Since its formation in 2003 by the Mooresville/South Iredell Chamber of Commerce and First Baptist Church, HealthReach has undergone a number of changes. It has morphed from the once-a-month dental bus on a $1,500 budget into a three-day-a-week operation that provides dental, medical, chiropractic and pharmaceutical services and has seen nearly 2,700 patient visits in 2008.
The service expansions were paid for in large part with grants from organizations such as Lake Norman Regional Medical Center, the Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust, Blue Cross/Blue Shield and the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services. The town of Mooresville, Iredell County, churches, civic organizations and individuals also help finance the clinic.
The problem, Crawford said, is that more services cost more money and getting that money is becoming more difficult. That's why the clinic sent out its first-ever mail solicitation last year.
"The economy is what the economy is, so we have struggled," he said. "The economy isn't getting any better, so our struggle is only getting more profound."
Getting the money for the general day-to-day cost of operations is especially difficult. "No foundation is interested in paying for your light bill and your insurance bill, in paying for the sorts of things that it takes to keep a place open," he said. "We are constantly struggling with that issue."
Crawford also said that HealthReach is coping by doing its best to keep costs down. The 2008 projected budget, he said, was $367,000, but they've come in about 25 percent under that projection.
Although drumming up volunteer and financial support is crucial to the clinic's success, Crawford said it's also crucial to get the word out to low-income people in the area to let them know that the clinic is there to help them.
"I just want people in the community to know that we are here," Crawford said. "They should be proud of the fact that their community provides help to those who need it. If it weren't for their generosity, we wouldn't be able to do what we do."
■ Megan Pillow is a staff writer with the Mooresville Tribune.
■ The HealthReach Community Clinic is at 400 E. Statesville Ave., Suite 300, in Mooresville. For more information on appointments, how to donate or how to volunteer, call 704-663-1992 or visit www.healthreachclinic.org.
Email
Print
ADVERTISEMENT
See community events or add your own! Click here!
Advertisement
