For 13 years now, the Good Samaritan Medical Clinic in Columbus has quietly and faithfully helped the working uninsured. Without the doctors, nurses, pharmacists, technicians and others who all volunteer their time and expertise, many patients would not have been able to keep their jobs or provide for their families. Jackie Anderson of Steens is thankful for that care.

Anderson, 61, remembers a harrowing trip to the emergency room more than two decades ago. It was one of the most frightening nights of his life. As a child, he’d spent seven months in a Richmond, Virginia, hospital with rheumatic fever. The disease left him with a damaged heart valve. The late-night medical call from the ER at what is now Baptist Memorial Hospital-Golden Triangle went out to internist Dr. James Woodard.

“Mr. Anderson was acutely ill, with fluid in his lungs because of a leaking valve,” said the physician who immediately went to work stabilizing the patient.

The experience was 22 years ago, but Anderson has not forgotten. “Dr. Woodard stayed with me the whole time, even all morning long …” he recounted.

Woodard is still caring for Anderson. The doctor who helped found the Good Samaritan Clinic volunteers at the facility which opened in 2001 at 520 College St. to treat the uninsured employed. Anderson, a truck driver, met the criteria. Because of that, he’s been able to receive the medical attention and daily medications he requires.

“If it wasn’t for them, I just don’t know what I would have done, how I would have got my medicine,” said Anderson, “I didn’t have any insurance through my employer and being able to go to the clinic allowed me to work all this time.”

It’s hard-working people like Anderson that Dr. Alan Williams, a specialist in gastroenterology, and Woodard wanted to serve when they developed the concept of a free clinic serving Lowndes County. Some patients work two or three jobs, but make too much money for Medicaid or government-subsidized insurance, but not enough to pay for commercial insurance, said Woodard, who readily credits Williams with the initial idea for the clinic.

“If you can do something even as simple as give someone their blood pressure medicine and keep them working, they’re happy because they’re productive, and their employer is happy because they’re not missing work — and we’re all happy because they’re not ending up in the ER with big medical bills that can’t be paid.”

Volunteer-driven

The heart of the Good Samaritan Clinic is its volunteers, said Kathy Tentoni, executive director of the clinic and its only paid staff. Physicians and other medical professionals contribute their time. Community members donate the hours needed to man the phones, process applications for services, complete patient histories and perform other valuable services.

“Some of our volunteers have been here since the beginning, and they’re still just as dependable,” Tentoni praised. “They’re committed and dedicated to what’s happening here, and they’ve developed a relationship with some of the patients who have been coming a long time.”

There is satisfaction in volunteering. Many, like Woodard, feel they get even more of a blessing from the clinic than the patients do.

“I could be having a terrible day at my office … but I go to the free clinic and these people are so appreciative for just being able to see a doctor. It’s a real boost for me,” he said. “I’m always reminded of one of my cardiology professors in Birmingham who always said to his residents, ‘There but for the grace of God go I.’ When I see people like Mr. Anderson, that could be me with no health insurance; I’m not immune to the same set of problems.”

Ongoing need

The need for volunteers — both medical and laymen — is ongoing. As is the need for community support. The nonprofit clinic operates strictly on donations. First United Methodist Church generously provides the building for a $1 annual rent and the staff is almost all volunteer, but there are bills to pay — pharmaceuticals, supplies, water and electricity among them.

“We’ve gotten money through the years through some foundations, but we’ve also had donations as small as $5,” said Woodard. “It may be from a retired couple that gives $5 every month, or a one-time $5. All of it certainly helps. [Funds] are always our biggest limiting factor; we could do more.”

Tax-deductible donations can be made to the Good Samaritan Medical Clinic, P.O. Box 61, Columbus, MS 39703.

Clinic hours

Medical personnel see patients on Thursdays by appointment. The clinic is also open Monday through Thursday from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and Friday from 9 a.m. to noon, to accept applications for services. For information on qualifying criteria, contact the clinic at 662-244-0044.

Jan Swoope is the Lifestyles Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.