CULLMAN, Ala. – Walking through the doors of the Good Samaritan Health Clinic feels like walking into every other doctor’s office in town. There’s a reception area and lobby, examination rooms, medication rooms and a nurse’s desk. And that’s exactly how the staff and board of directors planned it, to provide top notch primary medical and wellness care in a well-maintained facility with only the most respectful and compassionate staff to serve their patients.
“I have people tell me all the time that this is not what they expected a free clinic to look like, and that’s exactly what we want,” shared Executive Director Jolanda Hutson. “We want people to feel valued and special and comfortable. The reason we have a full-time staff is not only for the demand and volume that we do, but we want to provide the same continuity of care to our patients that we expect when we have insurance. We know our patients, our patients know us and we like to build those relationships with them.”
Good Samaritan Health Clinic opened its doors to the underserved and uninsured Cullman community in January 2004. Residents between the ages of 19 and 65 who meet the eligibility requirements are offered primary health care and wellness care in the program, which seeks to treat the whole person. Comprehensive medical care is provided for patients with chronic conditions such as diabetes, hypertension and COPD, as are services ranging from dental extractions, hearing evaluations, mental health counseling and social services. As-needed services include lab work, medications, diagnostic testing and referrals to partnering medical care professionals.
Lab draws are performed each morning by an LPN who is also a phlebologist. She performs 7-8 draws each morning. Some labs are run in-house while the others are picked up daily from a Cullman Regional courier.
“We could not keep our doors open without the support of Cullman Regional,” Hutson said with gratitude for their partnership. “They provide an amazing amount of support to us all the way from the lab analysis to providing their physicians whenever we have to refer out for more specialized care. We operate like a primary care clinic. A lot of times when our patients get here, they have many health concerns with one or two or three chronic conditions and we often have to refer them out at some point to a specialist. We’re grateful for that support we receive from Cullman Regional. If we can’t take care of it locally, we can refer to UAB Charity Care or Huntsville Hospital.”
One of the three examination rooms at Good Samaritan is equipped with an EKG allowing those with cardiac conditions to receive that care at the clinic. Other services include hearing evaluations held once a month at Good Samaritan and, if needed, hearing aids can be provided at no cost to the patient. Dental extractions and mental health counseling are also available to patients.
“Once a patient qualifies for the clinic, they have access to everything that we provide including dental extractions. We have about 10 dentists in the community that we can refer to and they’ll do the extractions at no cost to our patients,” Hutson said.
The medication dispensary is operated by two pharmacy techs and is stocked with non-narcotic medications donated to Good Samaritan by long-term care facilities, while other medications are purchased or sent by pharmaceutical companies. Last year the clinic dispensed well over 10,000 medications to its patients, valued at over $3 million, according to Hutson. Over-the-counter medications, vitamins, hygiene kits, cold kits and medical supplies are often provided by Wal-Mart.
Mental health evaluations and counseling were added to the list of services two and a half years ago due to a partnership with the Stephen K. Griffith Memorial Fund. Hutson noted the impact the additional services have had on her patients.
“The mental health counseling has been amazing. We’ve probably referred well over a hundred patients to Haven Counseling since July of 2020. It was a great partnership with the Steve Griffith Memorial Fund because we are the gatekeeper,” she said. “We had the infrastructure in place to know who needs these services and it’s services we’ve wanted and needed for a long time. Mental health is such an issue that so many people struggle with and there’s not enough providers. We make the assessment and the referral, and our patients go to counseling for however long they need it.”
The staff of seven at Good Samaritan are bonded in their commitment to provide quality, free health care with dignity to the community in Cullman. It’s been their mission for almost 19 years now and they are only getting started.
For more information on Good Samaritan Health Clinic, visit www.goodsamaritancullman.com or call 256-775-1389.
Copyright 2022 Humble Roots, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
