A look inside the clinic.
Photo by Principe Guity Jr.
EVERETT — A free, weekly health care clinic that opened on Casino Road is being called the first time “low-income adults in South Everett who lack health insurance will have access to primary care at no cost,” say organizers Connect Casino Road.
In September, Connect Casino Road and Lahai Health partnered to begin offering the health care clinic to those without health insurance twice a month. In early October, they went to offering the clinic weekly.
Every Friday the clinic is open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Connect Casino Road’s community center, the Village, at 14 E. Casino Road.
The nearby apartment buildings on Casino Road are within walking distance.
A Connect Casino Road press release states that close to “3,000 Casino Road residents” do not have health insurance. About 10% of the residents who live in the Casino Road neighborhood do not have a car.
The clinic is mostly volunteer-run, including the health care professionals.
One of the volunteers, Mary Hernandez, said the clinic impacts the patients’ lives because it allows them to speak their native language. According to Connect Casino Road, “close to one-third of Casino Road residents are foreign-born.”
The percentage of patients who speak a second language is 90%, Connect Casino Road’s director Alvaro Guillen said.
This role is important to her because she enjoys giving back to the community. She added that having interpreters is very helpful. It is good to have one near the patients. There are two to three at the clinic.
The weekly clinic sees 8 to 10 patients, Guillen said. The initial appointment takes at least an hour.
They expect to see close to 400 patients in their first year.
Even though the clinic runs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. “sometimes it ends 15 to 30 minutes earlier,” Guillen said.
If additional care offsite is needed, a patient is sent to a specialist. For each visit, a nurse case manager fills out forms for patients to get the care they need.
Connect Casino Road’s case management team and their Community Resource Navigator will assist patients in scheduling appointments.
Patients needing medical care translated to them in their native language are assisted by bilingual workers, volunteers, and interpreters who help patients.
“They were able to access health care for the first time. Some told us that (they) avoided the trip to the urgent care,” Guillen said regarding the clinic’s impact on the Casino Road neighborhood.
If anyone wants to volunteer, you email them at volunteer@lahai.org or go to www.volgistics.com/appform/1270907117.
