CONWAY — Vivian Fuller of Conway said she dropped her health insurance years ago when it got too expensive, and she went to the doctor only when she had the money.
A friend told her about the Conway Interfaith Clinic, and Fuller has been going to the clinic regularly since about 2004, she said.
“First, I was diagnosed with high blood pressure,” the 54-year-old said. “Four or five years after that, I was diagnosed with high cholesterol, and they just diagnosed me to be a diabetic this week.
“I don’t know what I would do without this place.” Kittie Aaron, executive director, said the clinic opened in 2003 at 830 N. Creek Drive with one dental patient and one medical patient.
Between 2003 and 2010, she said, the clinic saw more than 11,000 patients.
When the clinic opened, 12 percent of people in Faulkner County were without insurance, Aaron said, and that number has doubled to 24 percent.
Patients pay set fees for services, and those fees were recently raised to $25 for new patients and physical exams, $20 for an established patient and an additional charge for lab work. A $10 fee covers for one year the paperwork required to get medication.
Medical services are provided to uninsured people.
The clinic also provides full pediatric dental services.
Children who receive ArKids and Medicaid benefits are eligible for treatment at the clinic. For adults, dental services are provided to low-income patients and patients who need pain management extractions. Full dental services are also provided to adults who have Medicaid coverage.
“We’re a 501(c)(3), and like any nonprofit, we’re really hurting for cash,” she said.
The clinic is sponsoring its fourth annual Dr. Jack Logan Memorial Golf Tournament, beginning with a 9 a.m.
shotgun start April 28 at the Tannenbaum Golf Club in Greers Ferry.
A few of the 36 team slots were remaining last week for the four-person scramble.
The cost is $340 per team. Hole sponsorships are still available, board member Rhonda Dixon said.
For more information, email Dixon at rhonda@alliancecable.net.
Raffle tickets for a chance to win a variety of prizes are available by calling the clinic at (501) 932-0227. A vehicle will be given away for a hole in-one.
Logan, a Conway dentist, died April 3, 2006, while on a mission trip to Nicaragua. He and another man were fishing when their boat capsized.
Aaron said Logan was the founding dentist of the Conway Interfaith Clinic, and he served on the board of directors.
Proceeds from the tournament will go toward clinic operations, “to keep the doors open,” she said.
Aaron said the clinic is buying the manufactured building on North Creek Drive that houses dental services, as well as the United Services Center, 1301 Museum Road, which houses the clinic’s medical services.
She said the United Way of Central Arkansas is selling the building for what the organization owes on the structure.
A capital campaign is under way to purchase the facilities, and more than half of the $820,000 goal has been raised, Aaron said.
The clinic is open from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday.
“We’re their family doctor for people who are uninsured,” she said. “We try to make this their medical home.”
Aaron said the staff includes full-time dentist Dr. Garry Hargis and two part time dentists, Dr. Ray Plumb and Dr. Rebecca Carlisle.
Wes Ward, who has a Doctor of Nursing Practice degree, said he chose to work at the Conway Interfaith Clinic because of the “immediate difference you’re able to make in your patients’ health.”
He works in collaboration with Dr. Bart Throneberry, medical director. Dermatologist Dr. Brian Russell is available at the clinic one day a month.
Fuller said she considers Ward her family doctor.
“He’s real nice,” she said. “I call him for everything now.”
Fuller said she signed up for classes at the clinic to learn how to manage her diabetes.
Aaron said preventive health is the clinic’s goal.
Often, she said, uninsured people don’t seek medical attention until they have an “acute situation.”
“We see someone for the first time and find out they have massive cancer all throughout their body, and all we can do is refer them to UAMS, and you know if they had money to get to the doctor, maybe they’d be OK,” Aaron said.
“One of my biggest frustrations is people do not understand the importance of good dental care. We have 17-year-olds who have never been to the dentist. It’s sad.”
Aaron said the clinic participated in a “mini health fair” at First United Methodist Church in Conway and has a dental screening planned at Conway High School.
“We’re trying to do some community outreach, as much as we can afford,” she said.
Senior writer Tammy Keith can be reached at (501) 327-0370 or tkeith@arkansasonline.com.
River Valley Ozark, Pages 133 on 04/01/2012