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St. Elizabeth Catholic Church opened its Guadalupe Free Clinic last month in Colonial Beach. Some patients of the clinic, which is open Saturdays and staffed with volunteers, lacked care before.
The Guadalupe Free Clinic is a bilingual clinic. Interpreters are available, and patients can fill out English or Spanish forms.
Beatriz Chavez (right) and her daughter Beatriz speak with Guadalupe Free Clinic volunteer receptionist Nina Brett.
Retired physician Helen Capone sees patients at Guadalupe Free Clinic. |
By JESSICA ALLEN
Magali Rodriguez hasn't been to a doctor in two years.
The Colonial Beach resident and mother of three daughters under the age of 10 has no health insurance or money to pay expensive medical bills.
So she was thrilled to discover that her church, St. Elizabeth Catholic Church in Colonial Beach, now runs a free medical clinic for poor and uninsured residents of Colonial Beach and Westmoreland County.
Rodriguez, a Mexican native, went on a recent Saturday to the church's Guadalupe Free Medical Clinic because she was experiencing pain in her lower abdomen. She was diagnosed with an infection and received a prescription for antibiotics.
"I would've stayed home and taken Tylenol for the pain," she said through an interpreter. "Now, I'll come here for my kids, family and friends."
Rodriguez is part of the growing Hispanic population in Westmoreland County that is not receiving any medical treatment because of lack of insurance and money.
There are about 7,000 Hispanics who live in the Northern Neck.
When the Rev. Jerone Magat, a parochial vicar, was assigned to St. Elizabeth in October 2003, he assessed the community's needs and decided a free medical clinic was on top of the list.
The state considers the Northern Neck medically underserved. Getting care got harder in December 2000, when all three of Colonial Beach's doctors stopped practicing in town. One moved to Fredericksburg and two retired, leaving the town of about 3,000 to rely on doctors based elsewhere who kept part-time hours in Colonial Beach.
There was an eight-month stretch before Dr. Richard Dunn came in May 2000 and ran MediCorp's Colonial Beach Medical Center. But he moved last year to Warsaw.
At the moment, two doctors and a nurse practitioner rotate their schedules to be at the Colonial Beach Medical Center on McKinney Boulevard every day, said Mindy Simms, office manager.
Dr. Nizar Hussain is the full-time physician at Dominion Medical Center on Colonial Avenue in Colonial Beach. There is also a pediatrist.
The closest free clinic used to be the Lloyd F. Moss Free Clinic in Fredericksburg, some 40 miles west. But Colonial Beach residents don't qualify for services because they live outside its range.
Under Magat's leadership and the Catholic Diocese of Arlington's approval, parishioners converted a 80-year-old, two story house on Irving Avenue into a clinic.
The name Guadalupe was chosen because "Our Lady of Guadalupe" is another title for the Virgin Mary in Mexico and Magat wanted to attract the Hispanics to the clinic since they are the most in need, he said.
Members and doctors from the area volunteer their time to run the clinic on Saturdays.
Since it opened last month, dozens of local residents--as well as those from nearby counties--have visited the medical center.
The clinic, however, is available only for Westmoreland and Colonial Beach residents. Some people, including a family from King and Queen County, have been turned away.
Patients receive the same attention they would if they were at the office of a general physician, pediatrician or internist, Magat said.
Pregnant women are referred to the Westmoreland County Health Department, he said.
Beatriz Chavez, a 29-year-old Oak Grove resident, brought her mother-in-law, Ana, to the clinic last Saturday.
The 60-year-old Mexican native had an ingrown toenail.
When Dr. Ryan Anderson, a Fredericksburg doctor, examined her, he found that she also had high blood pressure.
He prescribed antibiotics for the toe and medicine for her blood pressure.
Anderson, who works with Pratt Medical Center and has volunteered at the Moss Free Clinic for 10 years, said Colonial Beach needs Guadalupe.
"Hispanics tend to stay away and not get help. I think they might feel alienated," Anderson said. "Hopefully, this way we can reach out to them and they can be taken care of."
The clinic is very Hispanic- friendly; all instructions are in Spanish and there is a interpreter for those who don't speak English.
Violeta Minero, a King George resident who attends St. Anthony's Catholic Church in Colonial Beach, served last Saturday as an interpreter.
She said the clinic is a blessing for those who don't have health care access.
"These people are immigrants who don't have insurance. Thank God for Father Magat, who is helping those who don't have anybody," she said.
Guadalupe Free Medical Clinic is in need of doctors. To volunteer or to learn more information call St. Elizabeth Catholic Church at 804/224-7221.
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