Inside the Clinic: The Martin Luther King, Jr. Edition

Chào buổi chiều, cộng đồng thân yêu nhất!

The small, but mighty Culmore Clinic got off to a busy start this year and it’s been all hands on deck! Just last week, we had 41 telemedicine provider visits, three onsite visits (remember, we are only open for a few hours once a week and those visits include thorough patient physicals that take time), a few counseling sessions, and lots of nurse “rooming” calls where nurses spend time with patients preparing them for the provider visits.

With our fiscal year ending on December 31st, there is a lot of work to do in pulling year-end data on patients and, of course, closing and reconciling our books for the year. I actually love this process because I get so much interesting data, like how many hours of service our staff have provided (currently at over 5,700!!) or how many patients enrolled with us (242!) because they didn’t have a primary healthcare home. Of course, data begets questions, so we will be digging deeper into the numbers to see what patterns or trends we are seeing.  I will keep you posted on our discoveries!

We are also getting some interesting data on our donors; for example, we had 175 new donors in 2020!  That is a threefold jump from 2019! More than that, it is 175 people who have taken an interest in us and the work we do and said to themselves: It is good! It is also 175 people who are learning about the inequity of health access and how a wee Clinic – rooted in the heart of the community – is standing up and saying, “Don’t worry! We’ve got you!”

And that’s what neighbors do. They have each other’s backs and they do it together. Think of just how Culmore Clinic began, as a leap of faith with multiple congregations holding hands and jumping into the future together - with few resources, but great hope! And now look: a community - a family - that says no one will suffer from lack of access to healthcare because of the color of their skin or where they came from or the work they do or the faith they have or how little money they have in their pocket. Fourteen years later, that commitment is stronger than ever.

As I observe and celebrate the life of Martin Luther King Jr. this Monday, I will also reflect on all that you have shown me over the last few months that speaks both to your recognition of the dignity of our struggling patients and to the steadfast, compassionate care you show for them, week after week, that truly reflects the character within you. That, I believe, is the very least this brave, hopeful American hero expected from all of us.

Onward and upward, my friends!

Nồng nhiệt,

Anne-Lise