{"id":30303,"date":"2020-04-30T13:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-04-30T18:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tmc.edu\/news\/?p=30303"},"modified":"2020-05-04T10:57:59","modified_gmt":"2020-05-04T15:57:59","slug":"we-knew-they-needed-us-so-we-thought-how-can-we-let-them-know-were-here","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tmc.edu\/news\/2020\/04\/we-knew-they-needed-us-so-we-thought-how-can-we-let-them-know-were-here\/","title":{"rendered":"“We knew they needed us, so we thought, how can we let them know we\u2019re here?”"},"content":{"rendered":"
Family Nurse Practitioner Colleen Kimball manages the Hogg Clinic, part of the Memorial Hermann Health Centers for Schools program. She spoke to TMC News on April 13, 2020.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Our clinic\u2014the Hogg Health Center<\/a>\u2014is located at Hogg Middle School<\/a> in the Heights, and it is part of Memorial Hermann Health Centers for Schools<\/a>, which includes ten school-based clinics and three mobile dental vans. We\u2019re designed to be a comprehensive medical home for uninsured and underinsured children.<\/em><\/p>\n We\u2019re a super small team: I\u2019m the nurse practitioner and the clinic manager, and then we have Celia Ramos, a licensed vocational nurse; Janet Morales, our office assistant; Ecenthia Burnett, who is our social worker; and Adabelle Franco, our navigator and also a dietitian. That\u2019s it! We\u2019re a little portable unit and we have a full pharmacy where I can give over-the-counter medications, antibiotics, vaccines\u2014everything free to the families. We also have our own on-site lab. <\/em><\/p>\n It\u2019s been challenging with the Stay at Home Order<\/a>. A lot of our patients think we\u2019re closed because HISD [Houston Independent School District<\/a>] is closed, and we also have a large number of patients who are immigrants. We found out that there has been a lot of fear spread throughout that community. People were being told that if they were caught out during the Stay at Home Order, or if they were found to have COVID-19, they were at risk for being deported. It\u2019s awful. Our numbers dropped significantly because of fear. But we knew they needed us, so we thought, how can we let them know we\u2019re here? We started calling them until they would pick up, and our office assistant would explain to them that the rumors were not true and that even people who are here illegally have a right to free care. <\/em><\/p>\n Then we thought, what else can we do? We were following the HISD food sites that kept closing and our social worker had the idea that maybe we could supplement that for our families who might need it. We do a food insecurity evaluation on all of our patients and families, and that basically tells us if they are at risk. We pulled that list and decided to go from there. We started out with ten families and what we found is that if you tell people you have toilet paper and paper towels and food, they will come. <\/em><\/p>\n We went to the Houston Food Bank<\/a>\u2019s website and found the closest distributor, a little church around the corner called St. Joseph\u2019s Catholic Church<\/a> in the Sixth Ward. When we went over there we found a little note on the door, and so we called the phone number and the ladies there said absolutely they\u2019d help. There are literally two women doing all this work\u2014they are operating on donations and running out and still helping us. They are in desperate need of some items, including men\u2019s socks. They made ten big bags for us with things like frozen chicken, orange juice, nonperishables, and then we pooled our own money and supplemented and got all kinds of stuff, even Easter candy. When our resources ran low, our medical director at the Hogg Clinic, Dr. Steven Alley, helped us purchase the remainder of what we needed, and he plans to continue that contribution each week as needed.<\/em><\/p>\n
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