By Eric Czarnik PONTIAC — They assist the ill and injured when no one else will, but now metro Detroit’s health agencies for the uninsured or disadvantaged are looking for help, too. At the Gary Burnstein Community Health Clinic in Pontiac, volunteer coordinator Pam Haratsis said her organization has come under increasing strain to address the needs of the working poor and the unemployed. She added that the clinic is in need of donations. “Everybody has this conception that we’re like a homeless thing, but actually, we’re seeing your neighbors,” she said. According to Haratsis, the clinic gets calls daily and often accepts around 60 patients a week. It commonly treats conditions like diabetes and high cholesterol, and it allows access to volunteer specialists and even a dentist’s office. Patients who are Oakland County residents and whose income is under 150 percent of the poverty line may apply for care, Haratsis said. According to the clinic, Michigan’s soaring unemployment rate has caused many more people to try to sign up. Clinic Executive Director Brian Harris said he has noticed demand triple in the last three years, as residents from communities like Farmington Hills, West Bloomfield and Rochester apply for care. He added that his clinic is the only one in Oakland County that does not charge its patients. Harris called his clinic’s mission a win-win situation for everyone. “No. 1, we’re supplying health care for people who are falling in between the cracks,” he said. “We’re keeping people out of the emergency rooms, which is again saving the taxpayers dollars.” The Gary Burnstein clinic is not the only local agency that is keeping busy. Project Chessed, a program from the Jewish Family Service of Metropolitan Detroit, is not a free clinic per se because it doesn’t provide direct care. But it does refer uninsured Jewish patients to volunteer health care providers. Director Rachel Yoskowitz confirmed that her group has seen increasing demand too. When the program started about five years ago, it served 98 people in its first year. But from September 2008 to August 2009, it served 1,073, she said. “We’re seeing about 15 new people a week,” she said. “That's huge.” Charities are not completely on their own when it comes to offering health care to the poor or uninsured. This month, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan said it is giving Michigan’s free clinics $1 million in grants. Although Haratsis said BCBSM donated money to the Gary Burnstein clinic, she added that donations and grants are still down, and the clinic does not receive government funds. Haratsis said that while her clinic could use more donors and volunteers, it will nevertheless do the best it can to continue its mission. “We have a passion here,” she said. “Everyone needs and deserves help, so we’re glad that we’re able to do it.” For more information on the Gary Burnstein Community Health Clinic in Pontiac, call (248) 758-1690. To learn more about Project Chessed, call (248) 592-2300. You can reach Staff Writer Eric Czarnik at eczarnik@candgnews.com or at (586) 498-1058. |
