The Agape Clinic (new website)

 

Numbers for April-September (not counting health screenings and weekly health education classes)

 

Date	Sick/Phys exam	F/Us & HVs	Immunized	SW/Chaplain*
April May June July August September	355 210 269 212 267 352	23 12 10 14 17 29	17 32 46 49 136 40	22 11 0 7 34 23
	1665	105	320	97

 

2008 is just a few months ahead. 2008 is the 25^th Anniversary of the Agape Clinic – 25 years since Bobbie Baxter, our Medical Director, walked into the Grace basement – 25 years since the first patient was served – 25 years of service. The Truth of where we started, “Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me” rings as clear today as it did then, as it did 2,000 years ago, and as it will 2,000 years from now. Amen.

 

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 seeing increased need for services for Burmese (Myanmar) refugees, most of whom are from the Karen ethnic group. Many of these patients have Medicaid, but often the resettlement agencies set up only the initial health screening at the PMH (Parkland Memorial Hospital) refugee clinic off Park Lane. Refugees are then expected to be able to figure out the rest of the system, including transportation to PMH, CMC, etc. It is common to see people who had Medicaid for 90 days (the usual period of eligibility for refugees), never used the Medicaid, and then lost all benefits. We are trying to see these patients one time and then arrange subsequent visits (by appointment) at the appropriate Parkland clinic. Caroline Marvel, our Burmese outreach worker funded by Common Grace Ministries, accompanies patients on their first visits and translates for them. Photo above: Baylor student with Karen woman

 

As this report is written we are meeting with Karen refugees, churches, and others to determine how best to address the needs of the Karen people in Dallas. Here is a link to a small website – on Burma Refugees in Dallas:

http://agapeclinic.googlepages.com/burma_refugees

 

The Agape Clinic continues to provide community health as well as caring for sick patients in the clinic.

·       In partnership with Baylor School of Nursing we are providing weekly health education classes for parents at two area elementary schools (Lipscomb and Zaragoza).

·       Thus far this year we have held two health screening events (one in partnership with UTSW CART Program), one back-to-school immunization event, and assisted children returning to school with new shoes and socks (the latter in partnership with the Wilkinson Center and Payless Shoe Source).

·       Home visitation continues to provide us the opportunity to teach self-care to patients with chronic disease and supporting people who are having difficulty managing their illnesses or circumstances.

·       Outreach also continues to help us find people with difficult living conditions and addressing problems of people and communities who have difficulty in accessing even the Agape Clinic.

 

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From Baylor student clinical logs – We are a training site for undergraduate, graduate, and post-graduate students in nursing, medicine, anthropology, seminary, and other fields. The following is from student clinical logs. Maryam is a woman with advanced breast cancer who has since died and Nabila is her cousin who came to Dallas to care for her. The patient/family names are changed, of course. Stephani and Megan are Baylor students.

 

Stephani, week 4: This week with Maryam was very emotional and deep.  On Wednesday we were able to really talk to her about how discovering she had cancer made her feel.  She actually almost started to cry and it took all I had to hold back the tears.  It's amazing how much she is opening up to us as we spend more time with her.  I am so glad that we got an opportunity to talk about important issues like what she expects out of life these next few weeks.  I'm not sure if she truly comprehends what is going to happen as the days go by.  I didn't feel it was the right time to attempt to explain the path of her cancer and that it will lead to death.  I think everyone has the right to embrace illness and death at their own pace and I think Maryam will come to that in time.  So Wednesday was a very emotional day for me because we talked about the "valley of the shadow of death" and that is never easy.  Thursday was a much easier day and we talked about some fun things.  I am amazed at how universal conversations are for girls and how much fun it is sitting with Maryam, Nabila, and Megan laughing and sharing our lives together.  Next week we plan on going to lunch with Maryam and Nabila and we are all looking forward to that!

 

Megan, week 5: I think we were able to form/recognize a spiritual connection this week.  Stephani was sitting on something that looked like a blanket, and I asked Nabila what it was – she told me they were their prayer mats.  So, we started talking about prayer – how we pray, things we pray for – and then, there was a warm pause – not an awkward, uncomfortable silence, but one that communicated something.  I smiled and was comforted that Maryam and Nabila have this source of power and encouragement.  I like to think that we pray to the same God.  Even though we may sometimes pray and practice in different ways, we are still able to share our burdens and find peace in a spiritual being – what a comfort to know that Maryam and Nabila can experience this.  We went to the Arboretum and had a wonderful time.  Maryam said she loved the fresh air (Kemp’s note: they were pushing her in a wheelchair).  She forced us to get ice cream – I think it’s funny (not in an ethnocentric way mind you) that in their culture that it is considered polite to forcedly insist that your guest eat – the more pushy you are the more polite you are (that just makes me laugh).  I will miss them.  I would love to keep in touch, but understand that I can’t make promises that I may not be able to keep.  They have changed my life…really…this is one of the first times that I have really formed a relationship with a hurting person, who is not in my usual circle, and not been on a mission trip.  This habit, this choice (to choose to love people in this way) can be a part of my daily life – a reality that I want so bad.  And, I have been blessed.  I think about them all the time, and hope that I will not just think but do.

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A huge thank you is due to an anonymous donor who has worked tirelessly to improve the Agape waiting room. Last week we received brand new chairs for the patients - comfortable, attractive, and vinyl so we can clean them. It is wonderful to have a luxurious gift like this.

 

Mary Horn, our volunteer RN and now nurse practitioner student got a good price on the purchase and installation of wall-mounted oto/ophthalmoscopes for all the exam rooms. No more searching for the ever-deteriorating and ever misplaced portable oto/ophthalmoscopes! There is a wish list at the end of this report for equipment and supplies that will benefit Agape’s patients. Photo: Dr. Montoya teaching in exam room 1

 

Marisa Abbe, our anthropologist and volunteer, Nora Avila, Agape Promotora, and Julie Pham, RN volunteer (and now graduate student) made a presentation at a national YMCA meeting. The title of the presentation was Including Immigrants, Minorities, and Refugees: Lessons Learned from the Agape Clinic. Other presentations have been made at BUMC for the Social Work department and Palliative care Team, as well as at Baylor School of Nursing and UT Southwestern Medical Center.

 

In April we purchased a hyfrecator at the request of Dr. Pandya and his dermatology residents. The equipment was paid for by a donation to the HPUMC Gifts of Grace and specified dermatology as the recipient of the gift. Dr. Pandya reported at the volunteer event that he had used the hyfrecator recently to remove a malignancy from a patient’s face. The patient’s mother had died a long and painful death from the same tumor type because she had no treatment available. Dr. Pandya noted that our investment had saved the patient’s life and at least several thousand dollars. Note: Without Dr. Pandya and the constant rotation of dermatology residents, the patient’s condition would have gone undiagnosed, much less treated without the Agape dermatologists.

 

We have been working on a new website. It is about 95% done and may be 100% by the time you receive this. We are especially pleased with the updated Community Resources Guide and invite you to have a look at the new site, which has the same URL as the previous site, except that it is now .org. Funding for this project was provided by the Board Chair and the Executive Director.

 

www.agapeclinic.org/

 

Thanks to a lot of hard work by Meg Kaufmann, M.D. and other Agape volunteers, we have continued to hold quarterly luncheons for past or potential donors and volunteers. We also held a great volunteer appreciation event this year (a huge thanks to Susan Archer and Shirin Pestonjee, board volunteers), combined with a touching memorial to Kelly Werlinger, M.D., the young physician who was a faithful Agape volunteer and outstanding person. Photo: Patient and Anthony and Julio (Nora Avila's sons) with bedside commode furnished by G5 Men's Bible Study (see below)

 

Thanks to Betty Lou Gary and her amazing crew for years of great work

In providing childhood immunizations every Saturday at Agape

For more than two DECADES

(We are still the only site open year-round for free or low-cost childhood immunizations)

 

We have been assisting an elderly woman, “Mrs. Trujillo,” who Nora found living in one room apartment without running water or plumbing. Mrs. Trujillo has diabetes resistant to treatment and associated problems such as foot infection and vision loss. Baylor students and Nora started seeing Mrs. Trujillo at home and through these visits and support from the G5 men’s Bible study group at First Presbyterian were able to purchase shoes, socks, underwear, food, and other essentials – most notably a bedside toilet chair so no more outdoor toileting. Several weeks ago the students and Nora determined that Mrs. Trujillo was deteriorating. Nora had helped her get approved for Parkland HealthPlus, but she was on a 3 month waiting list at EDHC (PMH clinic). We got her a next day appointment at the Amelia Court (geriatric) clinic, but ended up taking her to the PMH ER where two of the Baylor students stayed with the patient through the encounter (and experienced a high level of collaboration from physicians and others). Mrs. Trujillo was treated and released with prescriptions for medications – and of course there were problems with getting the medications. We were able to straighten these out at the EDHC and Nora got the medications to the patient the next day. Last week one of the nurse practitioner students made a home visit. The patient’s foot is in much better shape and things are looking up. As a lovely finish to (this chapter of) the story, one of our supporters (who has made vast improvements in the waiting room), was by on other business and made a contribution for Mrs. Trujillo’s care.

 

Donations Investment Opportunities at Agape

 

$25 will treat three children with eye infections.

$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.

$550 will purchase a test system to measure hemoglobin and hematocrit (anemia).

$930 will pay for a good quality digital blood pressure system.

$960 will buy a machine to measure patients’ average blood glucose levels over the 2-3 months preceding the test (hemoglobin A1c).

$1,000 will purchase a case (>1,000) of weekly pill organizers.

$1,200 will pay the monthly salary of an Agape promotora.

$2,100 will purchase a machine to measure complete lipid/cholesterol profile plus liver enzymes (liver enzymes are needed to give statin drugs for dyslipidemia).

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

 

Marketing - we are in need of marketing expertise. We are especially interested in marketing Agape to physicians (potential volunteers). Please let us know if you have a good marketing contact.  

 

I apologize for missing the 2^nd quarter report this year. We were working out of the country and I was unable to prepare it. Photo: Teaching - always teaching at Agape.

 

And finally, special thanks is due to Aletha Beane, the Agape Board Chair, and Leslie Kemp, Executive Director for their untiring work in keeping the clinic running at the highest possible level. Both are investing enormous time and energy in the essential background work that is seldom recognized.

 

Thank You, Aletha and Leslie