Melissa Knight, the executive director of the Interfaith Health Center since 1994, gave us an overview of the great work done at the Center. The IHC has delivered comprehensive, affordable care to more than 300,000 patients since it opened in 1991. She noted the Rotarians in the audience who have contributed to the IHC and thanked them heartily.
She said they have some 90 volunteering MDs. She said that 50% of their patients are for the short term, when they are between jobs or working two jobs until they get health coverage. The other 50% work in jobs without health insurance, notably in the service industry, as waiters and similar minimum-wage jobs.
“We fill the gaps,” said Knight. “We serve people who have nowhere else to go. It is not a free clinic. We believe strongly that people should have skin in the game: it’s a hand up not a hand out. The average patient pays about 2% of the private sector costs.” They have one MD and 2½ nurse practitioners on staff. “We are not just urgent care,” she said. “If you’re earning minimum wage, you’re going to be vulnerable to chronic diseases like diabetes, so along with acute care, we do chronic disease care that includes wellness education, health teaching, and exercise classes.”
In the area of mental/behavioral health, they offer the standard 45-minute consultations with a professional. They have some 400 specialists who are willing to see patients referred by the IHC for 10% of the standard fee or less. “Our goal is to keep working people working.”
Many patient stories come from the area of dental care. “We hear about many dental patients got a better job because they got their teeth fixed.”
She told a story of a man whose wife had been diagnosed with cancer three years before. The doctors had said she had three months without treatment and possibly 10 years with treatment. She had initially said that she did not want to bankrupt her family and opted for no treatment. But at IHC she had gotten the best of care. The man came to see Melissa three months after her death because he had seen Melissa on TV talking about donor fatigue and a decline in donations. He and his son had set aside what they were going to spend for Christmas and put it in a white bag. He said he wanted to make it possible for someone else to get the care his wife got. Melissa said she almost didn’t want to take the money, but wanted to honor the man’s wishes. It was $110. “I thought about the fact that they had no Christmas presents to open because of this gift.”
Another story was about a third grader, a girl who’d had a bad sinus infection for an extended period. She had fallen below grade level in her studies and told Melissa that she had no friends because she had bad breath. After they got her in to see and ENT doctor and got her the antibiotics she needed, she was soon back to grade level. “For Interfaith patients, going to the doctor is a privilege.”
Melissa then told about a December 23 when she had let the front office staff go home early and was covering the front desk. At 8:45 p.m. a woman left the dentist’s office with cotton balls in both sides of her mouth. She said, “I hope I am still hurting as much as I am two days from now, because it will remind me how lucky I am to get my teeth fixed.” She said, “My husband wouldn’t get his teeth fixed until I got mine.” Melissa said that dentist worked on that patient until 11:30 p.m.
Melissa said that if you know people in the service industry who need care, to tell them about Interfaith Health Center. And she advised us that, if we know waiters and other minimum-wage workers, then they have probably benefitted from the IHC.
Virginia asked if IHC had a relationship with the Vine Medical Clinic. Melissa said Vine is a school-based clinic, but they have an informal relationship. Frank Rothermel asked what big plans IHC has for the future. Melissa said the just closed on a larger building. “Our hopes are that we can continue to grow. We are looking to add a lot of services, including ophthalmology, mental health, and physical therapy.
A question was asked about fundraising events. Melissa mentioned doctors’ and lawyers’ trivia nights at some bars.
Blanche asked if there are geographical boundaries to who can be served. Melissa said no. If you show up, you can be served.