Engage Free Clinic News - November 2024
I hope this finds you well! I thank you for being interested in our mission. There is a lot of news as we continue to implement our totally new clinic model. As you know, the need for what we do became large post-pandemic and bringing in a new way of using telemedicine designed for rural clinics took a lot of planning, but as we expand our free clinics from one to four, we are discovering the planning is paying great dividends!
Before I share all of the incredible news happening, I want to take a moment to extend thanks. People have stepped in because they shared our vision, and we thank God for inspiring them. Betty Dean of Tulsa, who is no longer with us, felt led to contribute to our upgrade when it was just an idea. Mr. and Mrs. Bob Allison have a heart for people and felt led to see us open in Chandler with a donation to make it happen before we had even started on it. Charlotte Barnett of Ford Insurance in Shawnee has been faithful to support us all along in various ways. Richard Covington and Hite Pharmacy of Chandler expertly maintains and supplies our pharmacy without making any money off of us, because they want to help people. Daryn Kirkpatrick and Kayla Jarrett from the Oklahoma Department of Health have been welcoming and have went out of their way to help us get established in Holdenville, letting us use the county health department for free.
Speaking of free, Freedom Crossroads Biker Church took the lead in recruiting volunteers and organizing the Holdenville Clinic. Speedy and his wife Jody have been patient with me but worked hard to support Engage in Holdenville along with others whom I will be mentioning soon!
Now, The Butterfield Foundation has joined that group, by presenting us with a grant award for $13,524.00 to help with a multitude of projects in this program. They have a heart to help people and specifically, Executive Vice President Dierdre McCool, has offered us a lot of help, whether it be arranging meetings or just sharing a kind word, her heart to serve has been obvious.
Others are joining our vision to change free clinics in Oklahoma so we can attain our purpose to very quickly renovate and rebuild the rural free clinic system in Oklahoma and possibly beyond.
So what is happening? In very simple terms, 2 things are now happening simultaneously as we speak.
First, Engage's own region (Hughes, Seminole, Pottawatomie and Lincoln County) are getting the digital and telemedicine upgrades for the few thousand dollar price tag that we designed. That, is both affordable and effective for rural free healthcare. Smart Stethoscopes and exam cameras are being connected to electronic Health records which are then being connected to our clinic network. Nurses can work with providers in our clinic, or remotely with a provider in another network location or even OKC where there are providers available who can't get to rural areas. This solves one major rural problem which is a lack of doctors or Nurse Practitioners. Many clinics close or postpone because of this.
Second, is our development of a mail order prescription service for our network. It is coming online fully in December. Some of our clinics are too small or would take months to open a pharmacy. Many of the original clinics closed because no pharmacist was available in the area. Now, our prescriptions will be on the way immediately from our Shawnee location, letting us reopen free clinics in these areas much faster. We now should be able to have 5 clinics open in 2025 fully covering our region and have our rural region fully covered for any patient to get to one much easier, eliminating the problem of being too far for our patients to drive because of finances. If we are seeing just 20 uninsured working patients with chronic conditions (diabetes, etc) that's 100 local working people we've kept working and out of emergency rooms for primary care when conditions turn bad. Our numbers are always higher than that so you see the big changes that will make. 100 families not on assistance because we keep them working...100 unpaid emergency room bills on already struggling hospitals NOT happening. Instead, they are paying taxes and improving until they can get health insurance, and most of our patients transition back in 6 months to a year. And we do it for pennies on the dollar.
Third was addressing a bigger issue. We needed a bigger organization, designed just to help rural free clinics develop their own modern clinic model. They have the same issue as us. No Pharmacy and a lack of providers.
That is why we simultaneously developed Engage Oklahoma. We are letting those clinics join us for free, then we give them our plan and our equipment lists, which they can get very cheap. Also, we now have 2 volunteer consultants; one with decades of experience opening free clinics and one with the business knowledge to implement the technology in a rapid fashion. As for pharmacy services, we have taken our idea and took over a closed free clinic in OKC and are currently turning it into a statewide mail order service, eliminating the barrier of a lack of a pharmacy. We will all be connected and have multiple clinic styles to choose from and have the ability to get prescriptions immediately. Then, other churches and groups can start free clinics within weeks, not months or even years. Our region will be a working example to train new groups.
God has given us a vision and is making it happen rapidly. Along with some incredible medical and business volunteers, YOU have made a big impact on changing our communities and saving lives. For example, a person of the trades was just in. They had diabetes and couldn't afford the medicine. We accepted them, gave them the care they needed and got them back on the right medicine. Now they are going back to building, repairing and restoring. They keep their vehicles' and their place to live. And their work has a major impact on our area. It costs US about $25 a month instead of costing all of us $2,000.00 PLUS for an unpaid emergency room visit.
Our operating expenses are cheap. Upgrading is cheaper than other medical clinics but is an extra expense. We have a big start thanks to people I mentioned at the beginning as well as others. We are raising an extra $10,000. to make sure our costs are covered as we finish the upgrades and new clinic openings.
This month is a month of special giving. You can see what a difference a few dollars can make in our hands. We will not only change our region, we will then be able to show others how to change Oklahoma! Would you consider being on this list?
I have more big news about clinics being planned to use our model who have already raised funds. I will share their story in a few weeks after they finish organizing. I have other very exciting news for next month. Let's just say our region is drawing some attention.
If you feel led to help us change the free clinic system and save lives, any amount gets us the last mile. We're so close. We could easily do it in a couple of years, but the need necessitates 1/4 of that time. Our supporters have done that for the last five years. So, we are counting on you now. Your town directly receives the benefits of your gift. And you change a life in your community. What could be better than that?
I am so blessed this year, and I wish those blessing for you too!
Frank Kelly, Executive Director
Engage Free Clinics
Engage Oklahoma
