Community Clinic Reaches Out to Underserved
betty rogers, community health clinic, dr. stewart, health care, healthserve, heather renshaw,
HealthServe Community Health Clinic is a comprehensive program offering primary and preventive care to the community’s less fortunate.
Part of the Moses Cone Health System, its emphasis is on providing first-class patient care.
“We operate as any other private practice would,” says Heather Renshaw, community relations and development coordinator for HealthServe.
The clinic is open to individuals whose income is at or below 225 percent of poverty level and who have no health insurance. Fees for clinic visits and prescriptions from the HealthServe pharmacy vary according to the patient’s income.
Funding for the clinic comes from a variety of sources, including Moses Cone Health System and its foundation, Guilford County and Greensboro Urban Ministry, plus contributions from local individuals and organizations.
Dr. Stewart and Betty Rogers founded HealthServe in the late 1980s. Working with Greensboro Urban Ministry, the physician and his wife, a registered nurse, began seeing homeless and other impoverished patients out of a storefront clinic on Battleground Avenue.
A capital campaign that exceeded its goals provided the necessary funds to build the clinic’s home at 1002 S. Eugene St. in 1993. A second location, at 1439 E. Cone Blvd., followed in 1998.
In 2002, the clinic came under the umbrella of the Moses Cone Health System.
Today, Dr. David Talbot serves as the clinic’s medical director, his second shift in the position interrupted by a teaching stint. The lure of the clinic and its essential mission drew him back.
“Patients who are low income have a very difficult situation. They can’t get care,” says Talbot, who worked at the clinic from 1993-99 and returned in 2006. “I find that so disturbing, and I want to make sure I do all I can to help.”
Talbot has 42 paid staffers that work at the two facilities, plus a number of volunteers. They see as many as 12,000 patients annually and as many as 200 new patients monthly.
And as the number of patients treated has increased, the clinic has grown to meet the demand for its services.
“With increased size comes more organization,” Talbot says. “We’re able to do a lot of things in terms of scheduling and team-building.” Talbot doesn’t believe that growth is likely to subside.
“I can see us outgrowing our space. I can see us offering more sophisticated chronic care delivery. And I see more collaborative efforts. Where do we fit in with the mental health community and the hospital and how do we provide seamless care?”
Story by Dan Markham
Photo by Ian Curcio
