A frustrating lack of access to health care…

Most of Good Samaritan Clinic’s volunteer physicians have a love/hate relationship with their work at the Clinic. They love to see patients at the Clinic, but they hate the frustration of having to “jump through hoops” to get the additional care that the patients need.

This particular issue came into play a couple of times during the past day or two. One of our most passionate volunteers, Dr. Leslie Ziegler, mentioned her frustration in a recent Facebook post: “The most frustrating thing about it is knowing what someone needs and not being able to get it (or having to jump through a lot of hoops to get it).”

Another volunteer doctor told me exactly the same thing a few months ago.

Several years ago, one of the Clinic’s volunteer specialists stopped coming to the Clinic for that very reason. He was discouraged by the lack of assistance that is available locally. Clinic patients frequently need surgery or other care that is out of the scope of what we can do at Good Samaritan Clinic. It is usually difficult or even impossible to get those services for patients who lack health insurance and do not have money to pay.

Another type of frustration also arose this week. A very irate patient called the Clinic and eventually asked to talk to me. He accused the staff of giving him the “run around”. An ex-girlfriend recently told the man that he had passed an STD (sexually transmitted disease) along to her. The man claims to have no knowledge of having the disease and no symptoms. He called the local county health department to make an appointment to be tested. The health department (HD) told him they do not provide testing for that disease. They suggested he contact Good Samaritan Clinic. Our staff told him that we do not provide testing for any STD and that he should contact the health department.

At that point, the patient – who has been one of our patients for five years — became very angry. The call was passed along to me. I promised him that we would get him an answer of some sort within 48 hours.

One of the Clinic’s nurses called the health department again. This time, she was told that the patient’s information was correct – the health department does not perform testing for STDs… at least not this particular one. When asked where patients should go for testing, the health department staff suggested a walk-in clinic. Keep in mind, please, that there are people who cannot afford the charges for a visit to a walk-in clinic… and certainly cannot afford the lab fees for a blood test.

By now, you might be asking, “Why does Good Samaritan Clinic NOT provide some of these other services?”

That is a good question. The answer is this: when the Clinic started a few years ago, we decided to provide care that people without health insurance could not get elsewhere. With approximately 75% of our patients suffering from diabetes and/or hypertension, we have focused our dollars and services on those needs. Life-saving education and medication.

The Clinic’s staff and volunteer doctors deal with similar situations every day. A patient who needs surgery but cannot get it. Perhaps they do not qualify for charity care. Perhaps they qualify for charity care but they have an outstanding balance at the hospital that must be paid off before more services are provided. Perhaps they do not have the means to travel to Little Rock or Oklahoma City to have specialty surgery at one of the teaching facilities.

I do not think it is the fault of anyone in particular. I do not have a solution to the problem. I just know that there are people who are literally dying because they do not have access to health care, and it is not only happening halfway around the world. It is happening here in the United States. It is happening right here in Arkansas and Oklahoma, and it’s probably happening where you live, too.