Issue link: https://viewer.e-digitaledition.com/i/1180122
Hearts for Charitable Care BY K ATY MENA-BERKLEY THREE CLINICIANS DISCUSS THEIR INSPIR ATION TO GIVE BACK THROUGH MEDICINE. SUZANNE LANDIS, MD, MPH, FOUNDER, PROJECT ACCESS OF THE WESTERN CAROLINA MEDICAL SOCIETY When Dr. Landis moved to Asheville, North Carolina, in 1987, she was troubled to see a population of low-income, uninsured patients who did not have access to essential care for chronic conditions. "One had diabetes, and she was not old or debilitated enough for Medicare and not poor enough for Medicaid," Dr. Landis says. "She could not afford all of her medications or her labs and X-rays. … That was unacceptable to me." Dr. Landis volunteered to provide clinical services where she could and collaborated with fellow physicians who were willing to do the same. But she would run into challenges covering the costs of labs and X-rays. "We needed to develop a system where everyone could par- ticipate and donate care," Dr. Landis says. "Based on a lot of my personal and professional experiences and [those of ] some of the other physicians and nonphysicians in this working group, we developed Project Access." A grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation helped Dr. Landis implement the Asheville-based program, which provides comprehensive medica l ser vices, including labs, optometry and X-rays, as well as durable medical equipment, to low-income, uninsured patients. Project Access physicians care for uninsured patients the same way they would patients with coverage, ordering lab work and dispensing medications at little or no cost to patients. "It is a ll part of this network of care, and it's much more efficient," Dr. Landis says. "If you have a system of charitable care which makes it easy for physicians to participate, in the end it really is better for everybody." SETH STANTON, OD, OPTOMETRIST, DAUGHTERS OF CHARITY SERVICES OF NEW ORLEANS Throughout his career, Dr. Stanton has been inspired to give back to underserved communities. "There are a lot of people out there serving the patients that have insurance coverage. Those people have a lot of choices," he says. "The people that I do the majority of my work with do not have those choices." For seven years, Dr. Stanton has worked as a provider at Daughters of Charity Services of New Orleans, an organization that provides primary and preventive care to communities in need. 1 2