COSTA MESA : Things Go Better at New Free Clinic Site

It was 1:30 p.m., only 30 minutes after Share Our Selves Medical Clinic opened its doors, and nurse practitioner Cheryl Villasenor was calling patient No. 25.

As she took the young woman’s blood pressure, standard procedure before seeing the doctors, the waiting room reverberated with the sounds of crying babies, coughing and the buzz of an overhead television set.

About 40 people had gathered for medical care on this typical Tuesday at the clinic, one of the few in Orange County that offers free care to those who do not have medical insurance or are not eligible for government assistance.

Last February the clinic was forced to move into a converted warehouse on Superior Avenue, smack in the middle of an industrial park, because former neighbors of the clinic and its sister organization, Share Our Selves charity, had complained about the influx of people. They convinced city officials to kick the clinic and charity out of the Rea Community Center.

Today, there is no evidence of the strife that once divided this community. Nearly eight months after the move, things are running pretty smoothly.

The clinic, which once operated in a mobile classroom, now has enough room for four dental chairs, six examining rooms and a pharmacy. In a typical month, about 1,500 patients are treated for everything from ear infections to kidney failure. And fewer sick people are being turned away.

“We are doing the same thing, just in nicer quarters,” said Jennifer de Lima, director of the clinic for more than three years. “This is our home now.”

The SOS Medical Clinic was founded nearly eight years ago to fill a gap in indigent medical care. The backbone of the clinic is the hundreds of volunteers who run it, including receptionists, translators, doctors, nurses, pharmacists and everyday citizens just wanting to lend a hand. A handful of staffers are paid, including de Lima, whose salaries take up a portion of the $450,000 needed to operate the clinic each year.

Since moving to their new facility, the staff has had to get used to a few things. Like having space and new equipment.

“We have the same patients,” said Dr. Frank Herman, a retired anesthesiologist and general practitioner who volunteers once a week. “The surroundings are just more pleasurable.”

At the former site, a school that closed in 1979 because of declining enrollment, the dental clinic was little more than two chairs crammed into a former coach’s office. Today, the dental clinic is a separate chamber complete with four chairs and two paid dentists. The pharmacy is about three times larger than its predecessor, and the spacious waiting room allows patients to wait inside, not in long lines at the entrance, which created tensions among the clinic’s former neighbors.

The additional room has led to some changes, especially for the dental clinic, which, coupled with grant money from the state to pay the dentists, has resulted in the patient load growing from 150 a month to as many as 400.

But while the dental side has seen the greatest increase in patients, the biggest draw continues to be the medical clinic.

On Tuesday, patients included a woman who tested positive for tuberculosis a year ago but never got help and a 72-year-old man who has been treated at the clinic since 1987 for many chronic conditions. In the examining rooms, Dr. Herman talked with a pregnant woman with a skin infection.

Although things run fairly smoothly, the staff is constantly looking for ways to improve, said de Lima. A few problems still need to be ironed out, such as a lack of parking, but the primary concern lies with the patients.