Free Clinic, Mental Health Association Team Up

By Niki King niki.king@roanoke.com 381-1679

Drema Burton sat in the Free Clinic of the New River Valley on Tuesday night, patiently waiting her turn. She’s only 49, but she has the health problems of a woman twice her age.

She was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy in 1995. Since then, she’s gotten a pacemaker and had a brain tumor removed. She has high blood pressure, high cholesterol and thyroid problems. She needs a breathing machine at night.

Her Medicaid was cut off eight months ago. Without the free clinic and the medicine it provides, “I’d probably die,” she said.

All the health problems have been an emotional drain. She recently lost relatives close to her at a time when she needed them most.

“I get depressed sometimes,” she said.

By the turn of the year, the free clinic will be able to better meet the needs of Burton’s heart and mind, just as it does her body.

Amy Forsyth-Stephens was recently tapped to direct the free clinic and the Mental Health Association of the New River Valley. She’d been the part-time director of the association since 1993.

The move is not a merger, board members say. It’s an attempt to make the nonprofits that both serve the uninsured and underinsured “interoperable.”

It’s more than just an administrative change. Forsyth-Stephens has plans for changes patients will notice.

Forsyth-Stephens said she wants to place a mental health association volunteer at the free clinic. That way, if a doctor hears of a potential mental health need, they can just send the patient down the hall to the mental health worker. That worker would screen the patient, make an initial evaluation and set up an appointment for the patient at the association.

Forsyth-Stevens said the arrangement will start at the Christiansburg clinic and hopefully expand with mental health volunteers at other free-clinic branches.

Also, she foresees a joint database so doctors from the association and the free clinic can see their patient’s full health care report. That will be helpful in prescribing medications, both to avoid duplication and prevent drug interactions, she said.

People who have completed paperwork at one clinic won’t have to at another. Their eligibility card will work at both the clinic and the association.

“What we’re trying to do here is create one process for people instead of two. … This is opening doors,” Forsyth-Stephens said.

She said it’s never been tracked how many patients use both the clinic and the association. She estimates it could be as many as one-third.

“A majority of our clients have issues related to both body and mind. These issues are inseparable. Under this plan, patients will be better able to access comprehensive care, without delays and frustrations,” said Dr. George Smith, president of the clinic’s board of directors.

The organizations will share an administrative assistant as well. That person will be largely responsible for searching for grant money. Previously, the organizations competed for monies from the same pools.

The clinic director’s position has been open since summer when the previous director, Richard Pantaleo, moved to become the director of development of the Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation.

Smith said the search committee was looking for a replacement when its members heard about Forsyth-Stephens.

“We decided we would contact her and she came up with a business plan and we were so impressed, we thought she could do both jobs,” Smith said.

Forsyth-Stephens came to the association when it had a $32,000 budget and only two employees: herself and the secretary. Under her watch, the organization’s budget has grown to $1 million. She led the development of the association’s Pro Bono Counseling Program in 1998 and its expansion in 2002 to a rural health outreach program called ARMS Reach.

The pro bono program now serves 245 people a year and offers 2,100 hours of free mental health service. She’s secured 30 grants totaling more than $2.5 million.

“This isn’t a job for me. It’s personal. It’s personal to everyone,” Forsyth-Stephens said.

There are 46 free medical clinics in Virginia and two free mental health facilities. No others have teamed up to offer joint services.

On Tuesday at the free clinic, Betty Leftwich of Pilot said she wasn’t aware there would be administrative changes. But if the clinic was to offer mental health services, she or someone in her family might use them, she said. The family of five relies on the clinic for medical care, the discounted pharmaceuticals and the dental program.

“This place is a godsend,” Leftwich said. “They do everything they can to help us out.”