Ministering to the Health Needs
of the Underserved in Appalachia
– by Lori Golaszewski

The people of Bath and Carter counties in eastern Kentucky are no strangers to hard times. With a 30 percent unemployment rate in Carter County alone, it’s a struggle for residents to put food on the table, let alone pay for medical care. Two programs funded in part by the Adrian Dominican Ministry Trust, however, are helping the uninsured and underinsured receive adequate medical attention in this area of Appalachia.

Sister Maria Goretti Browne

The Carter Health Awareness Program (CHAP) was started in Carter County in 1989 by Nadine Sheehan, OP, a nurse practitioner, and Ann Colbert, MD, an area physician. Norma Dell, OP, was a founding board member. CHAP’s purpose is to assist individuals in accessing medical services and prescription medicine through the Indigent Drug Program, as well as to provide health education programs to the local community. Most of CHAP’s clients are the elderly and working poor, according to Maria Goretti Browne, OP, who serves on the Board of Directors with Sister Mary Alan Stuart, OP. The New Hope Clinic, begun in Bath County in 2000, is a storefront clinic providing healthcare for the working poor who are uninsured. Sister Maria also serves on the New Hope board, and is well aware of the tremendous need for these two programs.

“Carter County has been number one on the list of unemployment for the last several months, and it’s been in the top 10 for a while,” Sister Maria noted. “Bath County has high unemployment. Both counties have been depressed areas for a long time. Most of the people have an eighth grade education, but most do not have more than that.”

“Prior to these two programs, people just did without. I have sent people to the New Hope Clinic, because those people have no money, no insurance and no medical card, so what do they do? There are no medical services for them. I’ve seen for years that people are hurting, and you just don’t know what to do to reach out.”

Sister Mary Alan Stuart

Reaching out to the underserved, however, is what CHAP and the New Hope Clinic do best. Each year, CHAP makes contact with 3,000 needy individuals through the health education programs and mini health fairs it sponsors at schools and in the community, the home visits it makes to clients, and the medical and prescription drug assistance it offers. CHAP screens applicants and assists them in accessing free medical services at the outreach clinic operated by the local medical center. It also works with participating pharmaceutical companies who contribute to its Indigent Drug Program.

More than $1 million in free prescriptions and medical services are donated to clients in a year, Sister Alan said. In 2003 alone, contributions from 50 pharmaceutical companies aided 750 clients. Approximately 1,500 patients are treated yearly at the New Hope Clinic. Diabetes screenings and education take place on Mondays, while direct medical care is provided on Thursdays. Every other Saturday, a clinical psychologist is on hand to provide mental health assistance. While patients are asked to pay $1 or $2 per visit, Sister Maria said no one is turned away if she or he can’t afford
that amount.

With the high incidence of heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes among the people in Bath and Carter counties, both CHAP and the New Hope Clinic provide programs and services geared toward preventing and/or managing these diseases. Additionally, because 51 percent of New Hope patients are tobacco users, clinic volunteers are actively working to decrease their rate of cigarette use, Sister Maria noted.