Issue link: http://viewer.e-digitaledition.com/i/90939
Blessings Behind the Scenes The mission of Sacred Heart Hospital includes caring for the most vulnerable in our community. Supporting the Chippewa Valley Free Clinic as they annually provide care to 800 uninsured and underinsured patients is a natural extension of that mission. Examinations, laboratory work, imaging, medications, and lots of time—the costs of running a health organization add up quickly, especially when all the care is free. “Sacred Heart donates labor, time, and the dollars attached to technological capabilities as goodwill offerings to the Free Clinic,” says Maribeth Woodford, Executive Director of the Chippewa Valley Free Clinic. In Fiscal Year 2012, Sacred Heart Hospital provided $25,571 in lab and imaging services at no cost to Chippewa Valley Free Clinic patients. Cortney Sands, PharmD, Pharmacist with Sacred Heart, has given her time by working at the Free Clinic for the last six months. Before she began helping there, she’d had a chance to fill medication orders for the clinic, so she’s enjoying seeing the therapy in action. “The setting gives me opportunities to assist patients as they carry out physicians’ discharge orders and help them stay healthy so they don’t need to visit the hospital,” Sands says. “The work we do at the clinic just extends the efforts of Sacred Heart to give back to the community.” Sharing Our Gifts Sacred Heart’s support of the Chippewa Valley Free Clinic includes: • Emergency care • Laboratory work • Pharmacist support in the dispensary • Radiology procedures • More than 250 volunteer hours from nurses, lab technicians, and other personnel “Part of our mission at Sacred Heart is to serve everyone in the community, and the clinic’s work is completely in line with that,” says Susan Peiffer, Sacred Heart Quality Leader and Board President of the Chippewa Valley Free Clinic. “The clinic cares for others, but supporting the community requires support from the community, and Sacred Heart and its colleagues have certainly lent theirs.” $25,571 Amount of lab and imaging services provided to Chippewa Valley Free Clinic patients at no cost in Fiscal Year 2012 250 Volunteer hours contributed by Sacred Heart colleagues to the Chippewa Valley Free Clinic in Fiscal Year 2012