Community Free Clinic Newsletter

Prescription for Success

Vol. 1.5 - June 2007

Dr. Garabed A. Fattal Community Free Clinic

           It's summer already.  Can you believe it?  Just as the sighting of that first Red Robin is a sure sign of spring, the return of our local Snow Bird volunteers is confirmation that summer is truly upon us.  In past years, summer has been a stressful time at the clinic, primarily because of staffing issues. The period of transition is shorter now (only 5 weeks this year, since the new residents will be starting on July 9), and we are hopeful this summer transition will be much easier than previous ones.

           While we will certainly miss the last group of residents (and look forward to the arrival of the next group), this does not mean that we will stop seeing new patients during this transition period.  We have put out the call for additional help (especially from our Snow Birds).  Several of our recently recruited volunteer physicians have already committed to working extra clinic sessions.  Dr. Scott has also arranged for additional resident coverage in the interim.  Everyone will be pitching in.

            Those working in the registration area should register all patients as they come in.  We should not tell patients we are "short-staffed" when that has yet to be determined.  While registration starts at 4:30 p.m., it is impossible to project exact staffing levels for the evening until after our providers (doctors, residents, nurse practitioners) arrive.  As soon as the providers have arrived (approx. 5:30 p.m.), the medical director will access the number of registered patients versus the number of available providers, and determine if there are sufficient providers to accommodate the total number of patients registered that evening.  If there are insufficient providers, the medical director (or designee) will triage the patients and determine which patients will be asked to come back at a later date.

           Let's all try to work together to make our Community Free Clinic a stress-free zone this summer.

Advocates Grant

           Our 2006-2007 grant application to the Advocates for Upstate Medical University was approved for $5000.  The Advocates is an organization of volunteers dedicated to serving Upstate Medical University.  They have successfully advocated for and worked to meet patient care and community educational needs for over one hundred years.  This is the second year that the Community Free Clinic has received monies from The Advocates.  We continue to seek out other funding opportunities and submit grant applications on behalf of the Community Free Clinic.

New Faces At The Clinic

           Additional volunteers started at the Community Free Clinic in May.  Please give these new people a nice warm welcome, if you haven’t already.

• Andrew Beers has returned to help us out in the pharmacy this summer. Some of you may remember Andrew from several years ago. Andrew is currently a pre-pharmacy student.
• Jason Brustein, a local pre-med student will be volunteering in the pharmacy on Thursday evenings this summer.
• You may see Dr. Alfred Peter Peterson on both Monday and Thursday nights. Dr. Peterson agreed to help us out for a while, especially during the busy summer transition period.
• Dr. Harry Werner has also joined our group of volunteer physicians this year. We hope he enjoys his evenings with us.

Patient Assistance Program

           So far this year, we have received over $60,000 worth of drugs through the various Patient Assistance Programs offered by the major pharmaceutical companies. That is a major savings for our clinic. That is more than we received during the entire year of 2006. There should be a reminder in the patient’s chart if there is a Brown Bag waiting in the pharmacy, but everyone should still help us by looking for those Brown Bags. Please keep handing out those green sheets to patients who require expensive medications on a regular basis.

Albuterol Inhalers

           Don't forget that we have an ample supply of Proventil inhalers in the pharmacy now (thanks to our membership in the National Association of Free Clinics).  Please do not write external scripts for albuterol inhalers as long as we have them in stock at the clinic. Remember, the Free Clinic is paying retail prices for all those external prescriptions filled at The Pharmacy or Clintwood.

Newsletter Suggestions  

            Do you have an idea for our next newsletter, or something you would like more information about?  Would you like to contribute some news or a brief message to your clinic teammates?  Please send your comments, suggestions, and/or news items via email halterb@upstate.edu or fax to the Clinical Campus (772-3536)