JULY 9, 2009 ISSUE
The State of Healthcare in the High Country
Volunteer Healthcare Providers Saving Lives and Needing Assistance
No matter your political or religious persuasion, your income level, profession or age, one issue impacts everyone sooner or later, healthcare. Who receives it, who doesn’t, who benefits financially and who pays are but a few of the dynamic questions consuming the mega media, the internet and local conversations. Presently, Congress and the White House are drafting new legislation in hopes of controlling spiraling healthcare costs and providing care to those in need.
Not waiting for a solution in Boone is a group of dedicated healthcare providers who have been shouldering the burdens of people in need of healthcare in Watauga County for the past four years at the Community Care Clinic (CCC), located at 141 Health Center Drive.
“’I’m in pain and need to see you, but I can’t afford it.’ I can’t tell you how many times I have heard these words and I cringe every time,” said Dr. Stuart Kaplan, volunteer provider and board member of the CCC. “Unfortunately, I have heard this more during the current economic crisis.”
Dr. Kaplan is one of Boone’s healthcare providers volunteering his services for those in need and lacking health insurance at the CCC. The clinic opened its doors in May 2006 and provides primary care and mental health services. Staffed entirely by volunteers, patients are seen back to back, one appointment after another.
“On a routine Wednesday evening—when the clinic is open for three hours from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m.—we treat patients for diabetes, high-blood pressure, persistent pain and a wide variety of acute and chronic conditions,” Kaplan continued. “We’ve identified and intervened in life threatening conditions; we’ve saved lives.”
“Unfortunately, the large number of people in need of healthcare in our community far outweighs our present resources; we are already booked-up two months in advance,” said Mary E. Moretz, president of the CCC’s board of directors. “It’s heartbreaking to turn people away. When you are sick, you can’t wait two months for an appointment.”
Moretz says she is grateful for the grants and county support that CCC has received thus far, but that the organization needs a lot more. The organization has launched a fundraising campaign in hopes of securing funds to employ a part-time, mid-level provider.
“This is our immediate goal, hiring a part-time provider,” Moretz said. “I have a future dream of the clinic employing a full-time provider plus a volunteer coordinator and opening the clinic 40 hours per week. We have so many people in need right here in our community and those needs must be met somehow.
“Dr. John (Jack) Whitlock and Marion Peters, PA-C deserve special accolades for getting the clinic off the ground. Without Dr. Whitlock’s courage and compassion, there would be no Community Care Clinic because we operate under his license and oversight.”
In addition to funds, the clinic needs more volunteers. The clinic rents space from the Hunger Coalition at 141 Health Center Drive in Boone and that causes a little confusion. We applaud the Hunger Coalition’s work but we are not related, Moretz said. Donations must be sent directly to the CCC.
To learn more about the CCC, get involved or make an appointment for care, click to www.ccclinic.org or call 828-265-8591.
Contributions to the clinic can be made on its website or mailed to: Community Care Clinic, P.O. Box 1148, Boone, NC 28607.
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