For some, free medical clinic is the only Safe Harbor

There are 39 free medical clinics in Washington state.

Our state picks up the tab for malpractice insurance for the doctors and nurses who donate their time to care for patients at these clinics.

Now, new state budget cuts could zap taxpayer money for the insurance, making it economically devastating for medical staffers to give their time. They would have to pay for their own coverage.

Clinics around the state are on edge as more and more cost saving measures are announced in Olympia, said Julie Vess, executive director of the Safe Harbor Free Clinic in Stanwood. It’s been open for more than two years.

Safe Harbor doesn’t have its hand out for state money. Vess said the $85,000 annual budget comes from donations and fundraisers.

But they need a medical staff from 6 to 9 p.m. Friday nights at 9631 269th St. NW in Stanwood.

About a third of Safe Harbor’s patients are homeless, Vess said. Some of its patients have medical insurance, with big-dollar deductibles. Ordinary procedures and doctor visits aren’t covered until they first pay sometimes thousands of dollars.

For some, making a $30 co-pay is a challenge, Vess said.

She began her association with the clinic as a volunteer. She had been a medical assistant and while raising her children, worked from her home on Camano Island as a bookkeeper.

“I helped get the clinic started,” Vess said. “It was on my heart.”

Evidently she did a great job. When asked if she wanted to become the paid executive director a year and a half ago, she accepted.

“It’s a lot of work,” she said. “Management, marketing, fundraising, you name it, I do it.”

They’ve hired a half-time person, Bill Kluin, to do fundraising. They are the only two paid folks on the clinic staff. Kluin began as a volunteer.

To raise money, Safe Harbor offers pancake breakfasts, garage sales and they send out requests in the mail. A benefit is planned for 6 p.m. Oct. 15 at Tazer Valley Farm, 7314 300th St. NW in Stanwood.

Folks will talk about how they’ve been helped at the clinic. Vess said the devastating situations she sees can get to her.

A real estate agent visited the clinic, at her wit’s end. The market turned around, houses weren’t selling, and the agent lost her own home to foreclosure.

“She was couch hopping,” Vess said. “She came in with health issues one Friday night, depressed, and it was her last stop.”

Thanks to advice from the walk-in clinic, the woman attended job counseling and found temporary housing.

“She came back in six months a new person,” Vess said. “She had an apartment, a used car and she was excited.”

Safe Harbor Free Clinic functions with 25 volunteers each evening and they are short-handed. They also need more doctors willing to donate their time.

Vess said they average 38 patients on a Friday night.

They’ve written a grant request to get a dental lab at the clinic once a month. Vess said they hope to start a monthly woman’s health care clinic. There is a resource desk available with information on housing, jobs and medical services.

Interpreters volunteer to overcome language barriers.

When Judith, who asked me to use only her first name, got in line one Friday night, she said she was distraught.

She and her husband, both out of work, were living in temporary housing in Stanwood. She only had two days’ worth of medication she takes for Type 2 diabetes.

“There was a time I went without pills,” she said. “I am good about monitoring my food, but not having the pills affected my mental health. I was in a panic.”

Judith, 54, said the treatment she received, including medication, was wonderful at Safe Harbor.

She said her journey to being homeless started after a farm job went nowhere. Through a church, she found the place to live in Stanwood.

When she got pneumonia, the clinic gave her antibiotics and support. She takes part in a Chronic Care program at Safe Harbor, with scheduled appointments.

Judith said she is feeling fine these days and is managing her diabetes. She and her husband are renting a room and he has steady work. The days when they had no income or place to live were scary, she said.

The first time she waited in line at Safe Harbor Free Clinic, she was in tears, Judith said.

“They were wonderful to me,” she said. “The clinic gave me my dignity.”

Kristi O’Harran: 425-339-3451; oharran@heraldnet.com.

Benefit

A benefit for Safe Harbor Free Clinic in Stanwood is planned for 6 p.m. Oct. 15 at Tazer Valley Farm, 7314 300th St. NW in Stanwood.

Guitarist Enrique Henao is scheduled to play at “A Meal That Heals” and they plan to offer food and a wine tasting by Camano Cellars. Hear stories of folks who have been helped at the clinic.

Tickets are $50. For more information contact Julie Vess at safeharborfreeclinic@msn.com or 425-870-7384.