Program offers Oklahoma City homeless free primary care
SEAN ELY
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Published: June 20, 2009
Oklahoma City’s homeless now can receive free primary care medical treatment after regular business hours.
The
University of Oklahoma Community Health Alliance, started by 10 medical students, is providing an evening clinic from 5 to 9 p.m. every Monday at City Rescue Mission’s social services center, 800 W California Ave., as part of the Bridges to Access Project.
"It’s really wonderful to be able to do this,” said third-year medical student
Jessica Jones, president of the Community Health Alliance.
"I work at the hospital too, so I see a lot of inpatients. But when you see patients that are outpatient, changing their lives and turning it around, you feel like you’re a part of it.”
Kerry Johnson, who served an 18-month, court-ordered sentence to City Rescue Mission from 2001 to 2003, said he doesn’t understand why more people don’t take advantage of all the social service programs available in the building.
Even after graduating from his drug and alcohol recovery class, Johnson continued to receive help from various programs, such as Social Security and NorthCare. He also did volunteer work at the facility with laundry, security and in the kitchen.
"The help is down here and it’s free — I’ve received dental work after falling through a ceiling at work and then I received my medicine through volunteer medical students, coming down on their own time,” said Kerry, coming into the clinic Monday because of recent seizures. "I feel 100 percent better. They’ve helped me through whatever I need.”
For almost two years, OU medical students shadowed
Debbi McCullock, director of social services, until they gained faculty support to legitimatize their alliance, allowing for more work outside the classroom. The group now volunteers at 11 free clinics across the city.
McCullock, also a family nurse practitioner, said Monday nights give members with daytime jobs the ability to see a primary care provider in the evening, keeping them out of hospital emergency rooms that don’t always provide follow-up appointments.
The clinic also offers referrals to other doctors who can help treat those with serious illnesses. McCullock said the clinic works to find the most appropriate doctor, one that offers the most benefits for that specific individual.
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