Few patients for new free clinic, but they will come

July 31--EAST WENATCHEE -- Two doctors and several nurses have been patiently waiting for patients at the Lighthouse Clinic. They have a brightly painted, air-conditioned waiting room with lots of magazines. So what's the rush?

"Build it and they will come," quipped Dr. Philip Milnes, a pediatrician who normally works at Confluence Health'sWenatchee Valley Medical Center. Milnes was an eager volunteer along with others Tuesday at the new charitable clinic at 858 Valley Mall Parkway.

The clinic opened for the first time July 22. It's only open three hours a week for starters, from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Tuesdays. So far, the clinic has had one patient complaining of headaches. That was last week.

"I don't know what the outcome was, but he paid his $10 donation, walked out happy and said he was glad we were here," said Ginny Kerstetter, clinic administrator. There were no medical patients this Tuesday, but two people walked in hoping to get dental help. They were told they'd have to wait at least another month. Dental services won't be offered until September, Kerstetter said.

The clinic -- created to provide basic medical services to the poor and uninsured for low cost or free -- is near the intersection of Valley Mall Parkway and Ninth Street.

The clinic is bright and cheery, a former beauty salon that had been recently remodeled. It has two patient rooms, an operating room for simple sutures and a dental service room. All equipment was donated from doctors and other clinics.

"I thought it was perfect," said Kerstetter about the then-empty but newly painted space and downtown location when it was first showed to her by Bob Rogers, director of Lighthouse Christian Ministries. Rogers and Kerstetter came up with the plan last year to open a charitable clinic for the uninsured under the Lighthouse Mission umbrella. The non-profit organization already operates a soup kitchen, separate men's and women's transitional housing units, emergency housing and a pre-school. He picked Kerstetter -- a member of the Lighthouse board of directors -- to oversee the project. Kerstetter, who has a long history of starting local businesses -- Academic Toolbox and Encouraging Words among others -- called on good friend Dr. Carol See for help. Kerstetter and See have worked together before on ministries in Africa to set up a clinic and business opportunities for villagers. See, a pulmonologist at Confluence Health, joined the Lighthouse board and is the new clinic's medical director.

"The more we looked into it, the more we could see that this was needed here," said See. See and Kerstetter have worked closely with Washington Health Care Access Alliance to learn how to set up the free clinic so it would complement rather than compete with other local clinics, including Columbia Valley Community Health's Express Care clinic at Ninth Street and Eastmont Avenue. See doesn't have any hard numbers for the people that need help, but said she sees plenty of potential patients at local homeless centers. Similar clinics in similar-size cities in the state have been busy once they've become known, she said.

See said charitable clinics -- donations of $10 to $20 per visit are requested -- can save emergency room space, other clinics and hospitals thousands of dollars in unpaid bills for unnecessary visits. The clinic will specialize in basic treatment of colds, bronchittis, minor cuts and bruises for those without insurance and limited ability to pay. Dental treatment, when it begins, will offer emergency extractions and other basic dental work.

It may be awhile before patients find the clinic, but there's no shortage of volunteers like Milnes, who said he usually has to travel to Africa to perform the volunteer services he feels are a part of his duties as a doctor. More than 85 volunteers, about half of them health care professionals, have signed up for rotating services. Lead nurses are Jay Lynn Kimball and Brandi Larson.

"We know it's going to start slow," said Kerstetter. "It's not like a business that you open and everyone wants to come in. They have to be sick. Once the word gets out through the homeless community, it will grow."

Reach Rick Steigmeyer at 509-664-7151 or steigmeyer@wenatcheeworld.com. Read his blog Winemaker's Journal or follow him on Twitter at @steigmeyerww.

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