Community clinic serves uninsured when help is most needed

Tuesday, 01 September 2009 04:47

By Elyse Powers

St. Elizabeth's Health Center sits along the bustling traffic of Speedway Boulevard. As visitors fill the pack parking lot, inside the clinic is filled with predominantly minority patients. Young children sit patiently with their parents, as health care and administrative volunteers run around greeting patients in the lobby, and moving on to their next task.

St. Elizabeth's, part of the Catholic Community Services of Southern Arizona, Inc., serves mostly low-income, employed individuals who are underserved by the U.S. health care system. Sister Janet Smith, the director of community outreach provides a glimpse into the inner-workings of the clinic.

St. Elizabeth's was founded in 1962 when a group that consisted of various nuns and doctors decided that they needed to respond to the many individuals who were living without sufficient health care, said Sister Smith.

"We have more than quadrupled in size since then, because the problem today is that the cracks are less clear, or less obvious," said Sister Smith.

St. Elizabeth's functions as a community clinic that provides various health services intended to help lower income, minority groups in the Tucson area who are underserved by the health services system. The underserved, as described by Smith, include individuals who receive social services, like Medicare; individuals who have jobs but no insurance; and other disadvantaged individuals.

The largest portion of individuals served by St. Elizabeth's hold jobs, but make just enough money that they do not qualify for social health programs According to Sister Smith, St. Elizabeth’s serves individuals from around the world, including refugees.

When possible, patients are asked to provide proof of employment within the past thirty days. Those who are employed are charged fees on a sliding scale, which takes into account their household income and how much they can afford. If they do not have proof of employment, they look into whether or not they qualify for social government programs, according to Sister Smith.

Out of the millions of uninsured Americans, a small portion of those individuals seek help from St. Elizabeth's. That small portion continues to grow, however, as St. Elizabeth's, finds itself in need of more space, and more funding every day, according to Sister Smith.

It's no mystery that the economic downturn affected the lives of people around country, but for community clinics like St. Elizabeth's, a bad situation only worsens when money is tight, state funding decreases, as well as all other sources of funding, such as individual donations. Even though finances are tight, the health center avoids turning away patients, said Sister Smith.

While expansion is limited, St. Elizabeth's works toward expanding services because more and more people are finding themselves without health care. With the help of numerous volunteers and donors, St. Elizabeth's continues to expand. The clinic works with the Tucson area community in various ways, and functions with help from both professional and nonprofessional volunteers. Some of the community members that work closely with the health center include the University of Arizona, University Physicians Healthcare and University Medical Center, according to Sister Smith.

UA student Ellen Ouellete interns at St. Elizabeth's, with a number of other student interns and various volunteers. She describes the center as a great community that provides her with a great learning experience in preparation for medical school. Ouellete decided to intern with St. Elizabeth's because she felt drawn towards the opportunity to help serve a part of the community that is often overlooked.

"St. Elizabeth's plays an important role in providing health care to everybody," said Ouellette, "Because [health care's] a right that everybody is entitled to."

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