Deborah Johnson Wood
Catherine's Health Center has volunteer doctors and nurses waiting in the wings to serve patients – but the center's cramped quarters in the basement of
St. Alphonsus Catholic Church doesn't have enough room.
So Catherine's will move early next year to 6,500 square feet in the vacant St. Alphonsus School next door at 224-228 Carrier Street NE.
"Our purpose is to [provide free health care] to the uninsured and underinsured," says Helen Lehman, board chair. "We handle about 400 patient visits a month with two volunteer physicians and a small paid staff. In the height of flu season, we might turn away 30 patients a day."
The new facility will have six exam rooms, treatment rooms, a laboratory and a pharmacy. St. Alphonsus Church plans to move its clothing and food pantry into the building, Lehman says, making it convenient for patients to stop into both places in one trip.
"A lot of our patients walk here or ride the bus," Lehman says. "About 76 percent of them are employed or have multiple jobs; these are the working poor who are just trying to put it all together – rent, shoes for the kids and healthcare."
Lehman says the expansion will allow Catherine's to handle some 15,000 patient visits annually.
The estimated $800,000 renovation goes out to bid soon. Lehman says Catherine's has received more than $1 million of its $1.3 million funding campaign, which will cover construction, furniture and equipment, and some operating expenses.
"It was kind of the perfect storm for us to be right in the same neighborhood where we've worked for 16 years," she says. "We were sad to see the school go, but it was probably an answer to prayer that we have this space in the neighborhood."
Source: Helen Lehman, Catherine's Health Center
Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at [email protected]. Development News tips can be sent to [email protected].
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