Ramona Rainey sits in the waiting area at St. Basil’s Health Service Free People’s Clinic, cradling her 11-month-old son, Javon. He’s just had his immunization shots, and he’s not too happy.
But as Rainey counts her blessings while gently rocking him, St. Basil’s is right at the top of her list.
“It’s hard on people of our color with no benefits,” said Rainey, who is African-American. “Shots are very expensive.”
The clinic, at 1850 W. Garfield Blvd., opened in 1982 at St. Basil Catholic Church, but its mission has taken on a contemporary urgency as changes in health care sweep the nation. With the state pulling $34.4 million in health-care services for Medicaid recipients age 21 and older starting July 1, people left without medical care probably will flock to St. Basil’s for help.
The clinic is presently one of two in Chicago that offer free medical care to people without health insurance, most of whom are the working poor. St. Basil’s also provides dental care. The other center, Community Health Clinic, is at 1309 N. Ashland Ave. Both have a volunteer medical staff and do not accept patients who qualify for Medicaid.
Laura Jones, St. Basil’s executive director, said keeping the clinic afloat always has been a fragile proposition, as it struggles to handle about 4,500 patient visits a year. But the budget cuts might plunge the clinic into choppier seas. Jones is trying to recruit more volunteers to prepare for the expected increase in patients.
“We have a very limited amount of resources here,” Jones said. “I hope the government reconsiders its decision. I know their costs are way out of hand, but just help the needy a little bit. Or fund us so we can do it.”
Dr. Edward Schaaf, the clinic’s dental director, said the clinic’s dental center probably would get the most calls, considering the budget cuts will take away $22.3 million in dental services.
“For every patient that we can see, there’s probably 20 or 30 that we cannot,” said Schaaf, who has a private practice on the South Shore. “We’re simply overwhelmed as it is.”
The budget cuts might hurt people, but the state’s limited resources make them necessary, said Dean Schott, spokesman for the Illinois Department of Public Aid.
“We’re working within the budget that was made available to us by the General Assembly,” Schott said. “The resources have been marshaled to provide medical care to priority clients, namely pregnant women, infants and small children.”
Timothy C. Canty, dental director for the Cook County Department of Public Health, said the cuts would cost the state more than they will save.
“If a person has a tooth abscess that bears on his total physical health, if he has nowhere else to go, he will go to an emergency room, which will incur emergency-room charges, he will see a physician, incur physician charges, receive antibiotics to treat him symptomatically, and then be referred to a dentist,” he said. “If he simply went to a dentist to start with, he could avoid what may be hundreds of dollars of charges.”
Whether the cuts make sense or not, St. Basil’s Jones said she’s concentrating on serving her clinic’s patients.
“It’s kind of disappointing that we are a primary provider for so many people,” Jones said. “But we save their lives, we provide them with medical services, anything they need.”
Patients such as Rainey say they’re touched by the care and attention they get at St. Basil’s.
“They don’t treat me like I’m just a `freebie,’ ” Rainey said. “You know, like they just want to get you in and get you out.”
The clinic’s doctors, in turn, are refreshed by their patient encounters. Dr. Lori Soglin, St. Basil’s medical director, said working at the clinic has kept her idealistic about the medical profession.
“This place separates the money from patient care,” she said. Despite the rewards of working at the clinic, Jones said it can be hard to maintain the energy level needed to run St. Basil’s.
“Sometimes you get tired, and it doesn’t seem like you’re doing enough for these people,” she said. “But all it takes is that one patient to come up to you at the end of the day and say `Thank you, thank you for being there and taking care of my family.’ That’s what it’s all about.”
