The San Diego Health and Faith Alliance (SDH&FA) has expanded its free health services for the uninsured by launching the Mobile Clinic, which will visit churches around the county, including Sacred Heart Church of Ocean Beach, 4776 Saratoga Ave., and St. Brigid Roman Catholic Church in Pacific Beach, 4735 Cass St.
The clinic-on-wheels will park in Sacred Heart’s lot from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. every other Monday. The first visit took place on March 6 and the next will be held on March 20.
Jean Serafy, SDH&FA manager, expects that the mobile clinic will be able to see between 10 and 12 patients per visit. The bus requires a minimum staff of four to operate: one doctor, one nurse, a medical assistant and a driver. Visiting the mobile clinic will be just like going to the doctor’s office, Serafy said. Services provided will include physical examinations, a check of vital signs, health education, family or spiritual counseling and the dispensing of appropriate medication.
SDH&FA has been reaching out to San Diego’s medically underserved since its incorporation in 2003. The nonprofit organization operates out of its clinic in City Heights and relies on volunteer doctors, nurses, chaplains, counselors and students from participating schools training in any of the aforementioned professions.
“It came out a vision of doctors and faculty at different universities and Father Joe’s Village of granting outreach,” Serafy said.
The bus is an extension of standard SDH&FA services to San Diegans who are unable to reach their mid-city clinic.
“[Nonprofits] are always looking for new and innovative ways to provide services that are cost effective and work,” Serafy said of reaching a larger demographic. “The County of San Diego is very difficult to maneuver around in.”
Sister Ann Machtemes of Sacred Heart Church is grateful for the medical attention shown to her community by the alliance and is hopeful that it will have a positive impact. Every Saturday morning, the church holds a free breakfast that is attended by 40 to 70 people, many of whom are homeless.
“These people that are on the street and at the beach and in the park certainly have a need [for health care] and they don’t go down to [the City Heights clinic],” Machtemes said.
The demand for free medical care among the uninsured is high. Approximately 565,000 children and adults were uninsured for all or part of 2003 in San Diego County, according to a survey by the University of California, Los Angeles Center for Health Policy Research. Mobile clinic staff will not only treat patients, but also attempt to match them up with insurance, health services or government assistance programs for which they are eligible. Additionally, the alliance works with local groups and solicits participation from church parishes and congregations.
“We will be referring to community clinics when people need on-going care,” Serafy said. “We’ll also be utilizing some of the volunteer nurses in the churches to do some follow-up care when we are not there.”
The alliance relies equally on the charity of churches and students. Among the faith-based organizations that support the alliance are St. Vincent de Paul Village and Father Joe Carroll, St. Rita’s Catholic Church, Catholic Charities of San Diego, St. Paul’s Cathedral and the Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) supervisory group of San Diego.
The main clinic is located at the Church of the Nazarene, 4101 University Ave. It is open on Tuesday and Thursdays and sees patients primarily by appointment. The nursing team is on-site all day during the academic year, while physicians, pharmacists and student therapists are available in the afternoons.
The mobile clinic is an attempt to service a larger portion of the county by collaborating with different churches.
“This program is really part of each of these churches’ community outreach,” Serafy said of the bus. “The flip side of it is to take students to a community and show them the need there.”
While medical professionals are essential to SDH&FA, students also play an important role in keeping the clinics staffed. Point Loma Nazarene University, the University of San Diego and the University of California, San Diego provide nursing, medical, pharmacy, and marriage and family therapy students that aid the alliance in many capacities, enhancing their own training and helping the community.
The mobile clinic operates under the medical license of St. Vincent De Paul, although a state license is currently being processed. For more information on the alliance or clinic schedules, visit www.sandiegohealthandfaith.org, or (619) 624-9851.