The Clinic Team

Let me introduce you to my staff. I am blessed, through grant money from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan to have the funding for two part-time staff. For better or worse, I am the face of the clinic, but they are the heart and soul of the clinic.

Connie first volunteered at the clinic as an intern for her degree program. She was a young mother, finishing up her education. She was, and continues to be, an inspiration to me. As an intern, she helped me write the job description for the Patient Care Coordinator. We both wanted her in the job, but then it didn’t look like she would be able to apply for it. I went through the process hoping that the right person would apply. And, finally – she did. Connie knew it was the work she was meant to do, and worked out the issues so that she could apply. She may regret that decision at times, but I never have!

As the Patient Care Coordinator, she works closely with the patients and the community resources – whether it is the specialists in the community who see our patients, or the many service organizations that work with the same population that we do. She understands our patients and their lives. She teaches me every day how to serve this population.

Connie serves as the liaison to the community from the clinic as a member of the Multi-Agency Collaborative for Emergency Services (MACES).

A big part of her job is accessing medications at no cost for patients from the pharmaceutical companies. Many of the large pharmaceutical companies have programs called Patient Assistance Programs, and they make brand name medications available to low-income, uninsured individuals. Each company has their own paperwork, set of rules, and process for obtaining these medications. Connie does the paperwork for the patients, coordinates the ordering and re-ordering of these medications, and processes the medications when they arrive at the clinic. It is a huge job – there are currently about 200 patients on the Prescription Assistance Programs, and many of them have multiple medications they receive through these programs. She makes it look easy. But it isn’t!

 The Volunteer Coordinator is Linda. She too started at the clinic as a volunteer – in a job she hated. But fortunately, we saw what her gifts were, and put her to work using them. She is the nicest person you could hope to meet – and makes everyone feel appreciated. I can’t even begin to describe the monthly treats the volunteers find, the cards she sends, the events she plans. Everything is done in order to say “thank you” to those who give so freely of their time here at the clinic.

Linda’s job includes recruiting, training and appreciating the volunteers. We are so lucky that finding the people to work here is pretty easy, but if you have never worked with volunteers – well, there can be some frustrations. Trying to juggle the schedule – to make sure we have the right number of volunteers, in the right jobs… it can be like trying to herd cats. We love our volunteers, but they are  volunteers – which means the clinic is sometimes a secondary concern.

I think the three of us make an incredible team – we each bring strengths that complement one another. I can’t imagine doing this job without them.