It's amazing what you find when you are cleaning. You realize how quickly time flies when you are weeding out old files. For example I realized it was ten years ago that the Americares Free clinic was housed here at First Baptist. Beginning in June of 1999 a large mobile bus would pull into our driveway and see patients who were uninsured.
A nurse would screen patients and then either send them to a doctor or to a social worker. The nurse would also begin the discussion on possible referrals and follow up visits that might be needed.
A social worker was here to hook them up if they were eligible for medical services through state or national programs. Several kids were enrolled in the Husky program through this effort. It was a great ministry to the working poor in our community. Every Thursday our chapel area was filled with people waiting to see the doctor. Two of the volunteer physicians were Dr. P J Costa and Dr. Ben Hong.
In the first eighteen months of the program there were 1510 visits representing 523 different patients. These numbers don't include those who were referred to other programs and enrolled in Husky and other government sponsored plans.
The AmeriCare Van was here for three years. Funding for the program began to lag behind and in August of 2002 the Van made its last visit here. It was a sad day when they pulled up their stakes and left. Fortunately Backus Hospital and a few other independant programs stepped uyp to fill some of the void left by their departure.
When I think of AmeriCares I can't help but be proud of our folks who shared a valuable resource, our building, to make such a ministry possible. It is one of the reasons why so many in our community think of us a community minded congregation.
Cal
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