Dr. Woodall provides care at free clinic

Aug. 26--Health care in Durant is a multi-million dollar business. Insurance and cash patients keep the medical machine moving at full speed. But, there are those who fall between the cracks, have no insurance and need medical care.

Dr. Monica Woodall and the Great Physician's Medical Clinic and Pharmacy care for those patients who are under-insured and those who have no insurance at all.

Every staff member at the clinic is there because they want to be there. It's all voluntary with no one collecting any wages for their services.

Dr. Woodall does this because she believes she's led to do this.

"I feel called because God tells me to do it," she said. "I'm being obedient."

Dr. Woodall's daily practice is at the Sturch Family Clinic.

One might think that after a hard 10-hour day of seeing patients, a doctor would need to relax. Not Woodall.

She says the Tuesday free clinic is what keeps her going.

"It's the silly things that add up that really take a toll on a physician. Being a physician is hard and it's easy to get burned out. This clinic keeps me from getting burned out," she said.

You have to have an appointment to see the doctor at the free clinic. Eighteen or so patients are seen Tuesday nights with appointments starting at 5:30 p.m. and they stay until everyone has been seen.

Kidney, diabetes, blood pressure, rashes, thyroid, urinary infections, colds, flu and other common ailments are treated at the clinic.

Dr. Woodall is especially proud of the ability the clinic has now for lab work. They've been hoping for this upgrade for five years. Now, they can draw blood and do some of the lab work at the clinic.

Mammograms or pap smears are not done at the clinic but they can refer those patients to Dr. Smothers for those procedures.

No stitches or other surgical procedures are performed either. If a patient needs a service or treatment that can't be performed at the clinic, Dr. Woodall can make a referral.

"If it's something we can't do, I'll refer them to Oklahoma University Medical Center in Oklahoma City," Dr. Woodall said.

The patient then gets the care they need there.

Woodall says about the patients, "We do this because we feel called to do it. We take them in like family. We are glad to see them and be able to help them."

Sometimes life can be close to slipping away and the patient has a life-threatening ailment and finds help at the clinic.

"We saw a patient who was in renal failure," Dr. Woodall said. "Her kidneys weren't working. We did the lab work and found out just how bad her kidneys were and how low her blood count was. She would have died in just a matter of days."

She says the girl later was able to get her disability filed and is much healthier today.

They do not do disability paperwork but the medical files kept on a patient can be submitted as part of a disability filing.

Everything about this clinic is just like any other doctors office but the services are totally free.

The Great Physician's Clinic offers counseling services too. A total of 35 people have been helped to a better life through the counseling services they provide.

Sheila Timberlake offers those psychological services along with Sherry McCoy. They can help in emotional situations where medications don't work.

Keeping a persons emotional state healthy can be just as important as their physical health.

Karen Horn is the Great Physician's Clinic director. She has been with the clinic and pharmacy since day one.

She said, "It's very rewarding and makes me feel great helping people."

People come to the clinic in need, and more times than not, they leave the care of the doctor either healed or on their way to a healthier life.

Horn said, "We see lives changed. When we first opened, a man came in barely walking, using a cane. We got him on his medications, he was seeing the doctor and taking his medicines. I saw him recently and he was walking straight and moving back to Dallas, working and fully functioning."

Healing patients is what Great Physician's and Dr. Woodall is all about.

Last year, there were 558 appointments in 35 weeks with 346 different patients who saw the doctor at no cost to them.

"I've seen people come in walking with walkers and after several visits, they walk out and go get jobs," Horn said. "Those patients become healthy and productive."

Thursday night is pharmacy night for patients to get free medications at Great Physician's Pharmacy.

Ashlee Northcutt is the pharmacist who's been with the clinic since it's start. She comes from a well-known Durant pharmacist family.

Her grandfather had a Durant pharmacy, then her dad took that over and now she's giving back to patients.

The clinic opened in June 2009 and as of May 2015, just a short 5 1/2 years later, nearly $2 million has been prescribed with even more over-the-counter medicines given away.

"We have a huge pharmacy in the back and a big inventory of medicines," Dr. Woodall said. "We don't stock narcotics or controlled medications."

Nursing homes donate medicines to the clinic to help the patients also.

A resident may pass away, and with their medicines already paid for, they can be donated.

Only nursing home staff have access to those medications so the clinic is a great use for those medicines.

The exact total of free prescribed medicines given to patients is $1, 978,862 since the door opened. That translates to 23,266 prescriptions filled. Those figures are mind boggling for a small town the size of Durant.

Just this year alone, eight months into 2015, 338 people had a total of 3,335 prescriptions filled totalling $449,745 worth of medicine.

"We get our funding from donations only," Horn said. "No taxpayer money or grants."

Most of their funding is from individuals who donate directly to the clinic or through the Baptist Association.

The Bryan Baptist Association oversees the clinic and keeps the doors open. The association and clinic welcome donations from anyone.

Their funding for the clinic and pharmacy provide a service many would not get if not for this free clinic. The donations that are given help the clinic buy the supplies they need.

It buys the medicines and it pays the rent on the building and utilities.

Woodall and Horn both stress the importance of donations to the clinic or to the Bryan Baptist Association earmarked for the clinic.

There are no new patient slots currently but Woodall hopes another doctor will feel the calling and join her in the free clinic.

Woodall and the clinic is at capacity now in numbers of patients that she can see after she works in her regular practice.

She said a doctor would need to have an Oklahoma license to practice. Woodall thinks ahead as she talks of a doctor joining her in her efforts to heal.

She said, "If we had another doctor, we could see 40 patients and that would be amazing."

In the meantime, every Tuesday night, as a labor of love, Dr. Woodall will do her best to provide medical care to those in need.

She will continue giving back to her community and she actually looks forward to Tuesday nights and her work with patients.

When Tuesday rolls around and she's at her regular practice, she tells herself, "Yes, it's Tuesday night, I've got the free clinic."

Woodall is able to actually minister and share her Christianity to her patients at the free clinic.

It's been proven time and again that the power of a person's faith and their belief in God has provided healing where medicine has failed. The power of prayers is known to enhance medical treatment.

"We can actually pray together," she said.

Dr. Woodall treats her patients' ailments but they help her too.

"They minister back to me too," she said. "I get a lot back. I thought it would be one way, but it's not."

Contact Dan Pennington at (580) 634-2162 or [email protected].

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