LITTLE ROCK — When Amy Johnson was growing up in Fort Smith, one thing she never worried about was health insurance.
By her own words, she lived a relatively privileged life. Her father was a lawyer, her mother a teacher. When they were doing charitable good works, her parents took her and her siblings along, introducing them to people less fortunate than they were.
At Hendrix College, Johnson majored in psychology. After graduation, she became a social services worker. But eventually she entered the Bowen School of Law at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.
As a lawyer at the law firm of Kutak Rock, it was natural that she practice healthcare law.
And it seemed only natural that she would become co-founder of a very successful free health-care clinic.
Harmony Health Clinic is in a tidy brick building on East Roosevelt Road in Little Rock. The building is “leased” for free from the Metropolitan Housing Alliance (formerly the Little Rock Housing Authority). Much of the medical and dental equipment has been donated as well.
The clinic maintains a cheerful waiting room with signs printed in English and Spanish. It’s open one night a week for medical patients and on Saturday mornings for dental care.
There are a number of free health clinics across the state, but Harmony is one of the few with a dental component.
Harmony, which welcomed its first patients in 2008, does not accept walk-ins. The clinic requires an initial visit in which the patient is screened by a volunteer to determine that he does not have health insurance coverage and does not qualify for Medicaid. Vital signs and a medical history are taken, and an appointment is made with one of the doctors.
There are about 100 doctors, nurses and pharmacists who volunteer at Harmony, many of them affiliated with the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. Clinic Executive Director Eddie Pannell is the only full-time paid staff member. He has part-time office assistants — volunteers.
As of Nov. 30, the clinic had seen more than 6,200 patients for medical and dental care. According to Pannell, the market value of free medical and dental services, medications and lab tests the clinic has provided exceeds $4 million.
CLINIC HISTORY
Johnson was working at her law firm one day in 2005 when she received an e-mail from Matt House, a former fellow student at Hendrix. House’s father was a Methodist minister in Oklahoma, where his church sponsored a health clinic. Knowing Johnson’s earlier interest in health care, House proposed that they open a clinic together.
House had visited already with some downtown Little Rock clergy about the idea of a clinic ministry and received much encouragement. By the end of the e-mail exchange, Johnson was solidly on board.
“It was funny in the beginning,” she said. “Here were these lawyers and all these preachers — but no medical people — talking about starting a health clinic.”
During the next year, Johnson handled the legal issues with the clinic. The first order of business was to incorporate the organization. The second was to prepare a business plan. Then there was the need for a building. After that, the clinic would need medical equipment.
As things began to fall into place, Johnson and House were amazed. “Every time there was some seemingly insurmountable need,” Johnson said, “something would happen just at the right time.”
For example, the Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System was upgrading a dental facility, and five used dental chairs were available. Pannell was able to buy them through the Federal Surplus Property Program.
Exam tables were donated by doctors who were upgrading or retiring. The electrocardiogram machine was donated via grant money from the Downtown Little Rock Kiwanis Club. The Shellsoft Technology Corporation donated the Electronic Medical Record (EMR) software the clinic uses on its computer system.
Still, some things, like medications, must be bought by the clinic. And so it holds two fundraisers. The first Bollywood benefit, in 2009, featured singers and dancers from India and food from the Star of India restaurant. A silent auction raised $10,000. The next year, the auction raised $20,000.
More than 800 people attended last year’s Bollywood, where the silent auction brought in more than $50,000.
Every fall, the World Championship of Cheese Dip is held to benefit the clinic. Last year, more than 5,000 people turned out to sample cheese dip at War Memorial Stadium.
PROVEN LEADER
Pannell says none of this would be happening were it not for Johnson and House and their commitment to provide free health care to the needy in Little Rock. KARKTV, Channel 4, honored them in July as Volunteers of the Year. And in October, Johnson went to San Antonio to receive a Community Health Leader award from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, one of 10 such awards presented this year.
Pannell has nothing but praise for Johnson:
“Amy wrote the articles of incorporation, bylaws, etc. She has served as president, vice president of the board, chaired many committees over the years. Her leadership role in the founding, growth and success of Harmony Health Clinic is unparalleled.
‘‘Amy has played and continues to play an integral role in this clinic and the services we provide. She is the most remarkable young woman I have ever met in my 36 years of nonprofit work in Arkansas.”
Johnson is also the executive director of Arkansas Access to Justice, a state commission that ensures all Arkansans are provided equal access to justice in civil law cases. This commission was created by request from the Arkansas Bar Association and was granted approval by the state Supreme Court in 2003.
Sitting in the patient waiting room at Harmony Health Clinic, Johnson reflected on the ups and downs of getting the clinic off the ground. “I think back on all we have accomplished,” she said, “and then I think ‘I also had three babies while working on this project!’”
The 2013 Bollywood India for Harmony will be March 2 at Pulaski Academy. To learn more about Harmony Health Clinic, call (501) 375-4400 or check out harmonyclinicar.org.
High Profile, Pages 33 on 12/30/2012