Free healthcare, prescription medications for the South Texas working poor

Mission of Mercy, Inc., a non-profit organization that provides free medical care to the uninsured and under-insured working poor, is seeking a $10,000 grant from the Dudley T. Dougherty Foundation to support efforts to care for South Texas patients who lack health insurance, do not qualify for public assistance, and cannot afford the high cost of health care. These low-income residents rely on the Mission of Mercy Texas Mobile Medical Program for their only source of non-emergency care. Without our help, these South Texas residents would go without care until their conditions reach emergency status, making treatment more difficult and more expensive. Our medically underserved patient population breaks down by race as follows: 74% Hispanic, 20% Caucasian, 4% African-American, 1.8% Asian-American, and 0.2% classified as “other.” In areas we serve the poverty level is above the state average of 17.4% and the national average of 12.6%. The majority of our patients are women (62%), children (1%), and the elderly (4%). About 80% of patients suffer from chronic health care issues such as asthma, diabetes, and hypertension, and 30% are classified as having diabetes.

Mission of Mercy provides free medical care with help from professional and lay volunteers, who donate their time and skills. We also have an extensive network of medical specialists, hospital and private laboratories, and radiologists who donate their services. Mission of Mercy provides mobile clinics at three churches, one community center, and one nonprofit organization in South Texas. At each location, facilities are used for patient registration, patient waiting, and meetings with nurses. Patients are seen by physicians, physician assistants, and nurse practitioners on our mobile clinic. Clinics are set up like a primary care physician’s office except that no billing office is required. After registration, patients meet with nurses for evaluation. Nurses, who can perform 13 tests from our onsite laboratory, screen patients for diabetes, high blood pressure, and other diseases.

Our patients depend on Mission of Mercy for ongoing treatment and prescription medications. Patients return for regularly scheduled appointments, allowing physicians to monitor their condition and provide medicine. Patients who require specialty care are referred to doctors in the community who provide free services to our patients. Our mobile clinic serves as both a doctor’s office and a pharmacy. Patients receive prescription medications dispensed by a registered nurse under the license of our medical directors. Mission of Mercy’s formulary contains more than 225 medications. To conserve our resources and empower patients in their own care, we provide patients with free medications until their condition is stabilized and, whenever possible, write prescriptions for follow-up medications from reduced-cost programs. We also enroll patients in no-cost, prescription medication programs offered by pharmaceutical companies. Mission of Mercy then orders prescription medications for patients and dispenses them at clinic sites.

Grant funds will be used to pay medical personnel and to purchase prescription medications and medical supplies.

Mission of Mercy differs from other free and low-cost clinics in that:
• We do not serve the same population as other free clinics. Other clinics serve people who qualify for Medicare and Medicaid. We focus on helping people who work and do not qualify for public assistance.
• We do not apply for and will not accept government funding of any kind. Our model of service does not force people to fill out forms to prove their poverty, allowing this medically vulnerable population to retain its dignity and receive “healing through Love.”
• We are a mobile clinic. We treat patients at five mobile clinic sites that are close to where our patients live and are located on bus routes. This means less time away from home and work and reduced traveling costs for our patients.