Agape Clinic | Community Resources

 

Date

Sick/Phys exam

F/Us & HVs

Immunized

SW/Chaplain

January

February

March

429

456

435

16

47

50

49

46

59

23

58

62

 

1320

113

154

143

The mission of the Agape Clinic at Grace United Methodist Church in Old East Dallas is to improve the health of medically underserved people by providing quality community health services.

 

Clinic update

 

We are beginning to see the impact on the clinic of the Cornerstone Community at Highland Park United Methodist Church. Thanks to Cornerstone, a private donor, Matt Porter (Eagle Scout – Congratulations, Matt!), Mary Horn, Nora Avila, Leslie Kemp, and others, the redo of the waiting room is complete and we are very pleased with the results. There is more privacy for intake and for the patient history area. The children’s play area is wonderful and the children seem to enjoy it more. The whole area seems more spacious and we have kept the openness that has long characterized the waiting area and the clinic. Photo: Children’s area

 

Cornerstone is showing up in other ways. Contributions have increased, volunteers are coming in, and of course there is the video commissioned by Cornerstone: http://www.agapeclinic.com/

 

Mary Ann Faucher’s portion control/weight loss study is underway (Mary Ann is our women’s health provider at Agape). Her grant reimburses Agape for promotora time spent in this study during regular clinic hours. She is also paying the promotoras for additional hours. At this point we are seeing pounds lost and fellowship gained. Promotora participation also means that they (our front-line health educators) have additional teaching skills.

 

Patrick McGrory, our long-time pediatrician volunteer, CMC ER physician, and all-around good guy is moving to New York for a residency in anesthesiology. We’re happy for Patrick, but this is a big loss for Agape. Photo: Vanida and Julie in the pharmacy

 

Volunteering is like a lot of other things in life – you never really know when something will happen or what it will be like. Our Burmese outreach worker brought in some children with significant health problems that needed attention at another clinic. We were able to get them a same day appointment at the East Dallas Health Center (No small feat, that!) and everything was in place except for how they would get there. Then in walk two young nurses, who themselves were refugees long ago. Here is an email from one of those young people:

Thank you for giving us the opportunity! For me, it was an honor to take Tah ____ and her family to the clinic. I do believe a miracle happened today... I don't know if it was the fact that Vanida and I planned on coming in. But I do know... the miracle today was taking the family to McDonalds. I have never seen happier kids. I don't know if they've ever been before but geez... happy meal toys to playing on the play ground with them to dipping french fries into ketchup!; they were so happy. It was awesome! Anyway the whole experience was unforgettable. I don't know how you first felt when you started this... but I felt an overpowering feeling of "this is what life is all about" serving others, loving your neighbors etc. and it made my soul jump with joy. I was helping Amali (I know I spelled it wrong) read... while we waited (4 hours) and it was like... these kids have so much potential and their futures are so bright... I’m so happy they're here (in America). It's TOUGH (for lack of a better word) having to start over in a new place (especially after like 8 years in a refugee camp!) but it's like any little thing we do counts for something. Anyway it was awesome... I can't even express it in words...

 

New volunteers: Julie Pham, RN, Vanida Sakdavong, RN, Jackie McCort, PNP, Larry Snyder (who just passed his boards as a massage therapist – congratulations, Larry!), Kim Griffith, CCNP, Ellen Turner, M.D., Dee Ogden, D.D.S., Amy Sung, Tammy McGregor, M.D., Toni DeLeon, PNP – I know someone is being left off and I’m sorry – let me know, please. Christina Castleberry, M.D. is a 3rd year resident who is with us only for a month, alas. Everyone says the same thing to her – “Just a month?” Bobbie is her supervising physician.

 

Melissa Carpenter from HPUMC initiated and now maintains a computerized system for tracking immunization records. This is a major effort and is appreciated.

 

A massage therapist, Larry Snyder (see above), has come to us via a friend of Meg Kaufmann. As we have discussed here before, many of our patients lead hard, stressful lives. Larry is setting up his massage chair in the waiting room and giving neck and back massages to patients and volunteers every Thursday. Larry’s contribution is deeply appreciated. Photo: Heather, a Baylor student reading to her patient

 

On 2/21 a home visit was made by Baylor students to a young Sudanese woman, Maryam, who is a friend of our Burmese outreach worker. The students were unable to determine the cause of the patient’s pain and she was taken to the Baylor ER. The patient was admitted to the hospital from the ER and diagnosed with breast cancer metastatic to brain, bones, liver, and lungs. She was discharged on 3/14 and is at home with hospice care. Agape is coordinating hospice and volunteer services, very extensive social services, and volunteers. She has been okayed for emergency food stamps and we have gotten a working refrigerator in the apartment – both of which required significant effort. Her brother, who has schizophrenia and was tortured in Sudan, quit taking his antipsychotic medications the day his sister went to the hospital. He was becoming increasingly agitated, or conversely, showing signs of catatonia. We were able to get a home visit from ADAPT and he is back on his medications and is improving. Diane Mitschke, a professor of social work and one of our Friday volunteers visits the family on Fridays and is working to get the patient’s parents to the U.S.

 

A week before Easter Maryam reported increased dental pain. We found a volunteer dentist, got the dentist in touch with the hospice physician, got the medical records (what a sad story they were), and finally, on Good Friday, about 7:20am it all came together and at 12:30 that afternoon we took Maryam to Debbie Frankfurt, the dentist and though Maryam did not want to lose her tooth, out it had to come. There was a slight complication with the extraction and another dentist got involved. So now the dental problem is out of the way and a Jewish dentist is part of this amazing grace.

 

Agape: a Muslim patient, Protestant volunteers, Jewish palliative care physician (Bob Fine, God Bless him), Jewish dentist, Catholic Arab dentist (the other dentist), Baylor students … like Mother Teresa said, it’s “something beautiful for God.”

 

Bobbie donated a pulmonary function machine (for diagnosis and treatment of lung problems such as asthma). The machine requires a computer, which has now been donated (Pentium 4). We purchased a printer and are ready to upgrade our ability to diagnose and treat patients with pulmonary problems. An attorney, Patrick Mulligan, with help from Louis Carter at Corporate Computer Services donated the computer (actually, he donated several – Pentium 4s) to Agape.  

 

Community health and other matters

 

A health screening event is scheduled for 4/18. The Methodist Medical Center Mobile Mammogram team is providing breast cancer screening and Baylor School of Nursing /Agape are screening for depression, hypertension, diabetes, and other health issues. Typically, we screen women who have never had a mammogram or are at least several years off the standard of care.

 

Mosaic Family Services provided an in-service on human trafficking for staff, students, and volunteers at Agape. Agape volunteers are presenting papers or in-services at state primary care meetings and at area hospitals and UTSW Medical School. Photo: Sorting medications

 

Community health education continues at Zaragoza and Lipscomb Elementary Schools through Baylor students, Baylor faculty, promotoras, and volunteers. Other health education includes classes at the clinic through the Concilio Dallas’ Diabetes Education Project classes, and teaching individual patients by doctors, nurses, and promotoras.

 

Dale McEowen, long-time board member and volunteer has received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Dallas Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers.

 

Donations Investment Opportunities at Agape

 

$20 will treat three children with eye infections.

$30 will purchase three inhalers for people with asthma.

$50 will treat 10 people with common skin diseases.

$100 will purchase 40 bottles of amoxicillin powder for children’s ear infections.

$200 will treat three people with diabetes for one year.

$500 will help pay half the monthly salary of one Agape promotora (lay health promoter) working part-time.

$1,000 will pay the monthly salary of an Agape promotora.

$1,500 will purchase one wall-mounted Oto/Ophthalmoscope (the clinic needs five).

$2,000 - $4,000 will purchase needed equipment, e.g., hemoglobin/ hematocrit analysis machine and related supplies.

$20,000 will purchase all medications for the clinic for a year.