I spent the last two days at the 2-day free clinic in Kansas City at Bartle Hall, sponsored by the National Association for Free Clinics. I'm tired, but it's a good tired.
When I heard on Keith's show that the NAFC was doing a 2-day clinic here in KC, I signed up to be a volunteer almost a month ago. I even got my mom to come help for a day. I knew this was going to change me, but what I wasn't prepared for was how much.
Join me below the jump for some of their stories (names and other identifying details withheld for privacy purposes).
My job for both days of the clinic was patient registration. When they came in, they got a wristband and a numbered folder. Then they came to me and I filled out their form for them, having them sign the release on the back.
In addition to their name, contact info, date of birth and some basic demographic information, there were three questions I had to ask them. The first was where they normally went to get health care. The options I had to choose from where ER, Physician, Clinic (and the name) or Don't Go. I'd say the vast majority of forms I filled out I checked off that they either went to the ER or they just didn't go to the doctor. When I asked one person where they went for medical care, they said, "Besides my kitchen table?"
The next question, and the hardest of the three for me, was when was the last time they'd seen a doctor. A lot of people said they couldn't remember the last time they'd seen a doctor. Of the ones that could remember, the longest ago was one who last went to the doctor the year I graduated from high school. That doesn't sound bad until I tell you that I attended my 20-year reunion in September.
The last question was whether or not they were employed. A lot of them said they were. One said, "I started working for (Company name) 4-1/2 months ago, but their benefits don't kick in until after six months." Some were in their work clothes. Some came down on their lunch breaks to register to see if they could come back later.
The couple that I saw that drove the farthest, and they were there really early today, were from 200 miles away. They had to drive across the state of Missouri, on icy roads in bone-chilling cold, just to be able to see a doctor and not get a bill.
My mom told me about a couple that when the woman was signing her name, her hands were shaking because she was so cold. When my mom started patting her hands to help the woman warm up, they told her that they'd walked 6 miles to be there. The temperature most of the day yesterday never got out of the teens with a wind chill near 0.
One man I asked for a telephone number said, "Let me give you my mom's number..." One woman I asked for an address said, "I'm homeless, but here's my mailing address..."
I stayed until the very end and took care of the last few people who came in. The last person had an appointment, but he was late because he was trying to find an ID he could show if asked. See, he'd had his driver's license stolen earlier in the week and all he could come up with was a photocopy of his Social Security card.
All told, the KC free clinic saw 2,293 patients in two days. I only know the number because the folders were numbered and handed out in numerical order just to make it easier to count how many people we helped.
I think the lasting impression that I'll keep with me of this clinic is the phrase I heard the most often from people as they walked away from me. "Thank you." They were so grateful for the help we were providing for them. As I heard somebody say today, when a man was told that the wait would be 4-5 hours, he replied that he'd wait that long at the ER, but here he wouldn't get a bill. Most of the volunteers were from the KC metro area, but there were people helping from Colorado, Wisconsin and Maryland, and those are just the ones that I met. Even some people who were patients on day 1 came back as volunteers on day 2.
I came in as an ardent supporter of health care reform. I had my resolve strengthened. As gracious as the patients were these past two days, that's how pissed I am that this country hasn't gotten universal health care done. People who oppose reform say that America has the best health care system in the world. If we really did have the best health care system in the world, the last two days, while really rewarding, wouldn't have been necessary.
Call your Congresscritters and demand health care reform. Now.