Medical Clinic Fills the Bill for the Needy

Emerging from the doctor’s examination room, Francisco Romero breaks into a smile. In his arms, Romero’s 18-month-old son, Alejandro, huddles quietly, taking in the waiting room’s bustling activity with wide eyes.

As he points to his son’s scarlet-flushed face, Romero explains in Spanish that the boy has a slight fever, but the doctor has just said he will be fine.

Like all parents, Romero worries about his children’s health, but he has more to worry about than most. Romero, a gardener, is like many San Gabriel Valley residents in low-income positions--he cannot afford health insurance or regular medical care for himself or his family.

But thanks to a flyer his 5-year-old daughter brought home from school recently, Romero has discovered a place where he and his family can obtain affordable medical care: the Azusa Evening Clinic.

For just $10 per visit, clinic patients have access to a broad range of basic medical services--including physical and gynecological examinations as well as treatment of colds and other minor ailments.

The clinic, which opened last month, is a cooperative effort between local medical professionals and Los Angeles County. More than 200 area doctors and nurses have volunteered to staff the clinic, housed in the county’s Azusa Public Health Facility at 150 N. Azusa Ave. The county is also providing the volunteers with malpractice insurance.

“We are very happy to be working with the clinic,” said Barbara Lee, a Department of Health Services administrator who serves as the county’s liaison with the clinic.

“The doctors at county health facilities are often busy with inoculations and other preventive medicine,” Lee explained. “By bringing low-cost primary care services to this area, the clinic has been a big help in filling the gaps in our coverage.”

For Marco Alvarez and his wife, Veronica, who have neither Medi-Cal nor private insurance, the clinic is their only available option for medical care. As they sat waiting for their infant daughter to be examined by the doctor, Alvarez explained that, before the clinic opened, he and his family could not find medical care.

“At one point, my brother was very sick and we took him to the hospital,” Alvarez said. “But because we didn’t have any insurance or Medi-Cal, the hospital demanded we give them $100 upfront. We didn’t have the money, so we had to take him home and make do with Tylenol.”

Fees are not a problem at the Azusa clinic, Lee said, explaining that any patient who cannot pay the $10 may apply to the county for a waiver. Lee also emphasized that patients will not have to wait for the county’s approval of the waiver to receive medical treatment.

But while doctors and nurses play an important role by attending to patients’ medical needs, the clinic would not be able to function for long without the help of the many non-medical volunteers who organize the clinic’s paperwork and act as translators for the predominantly Latino patients, many of whom speak little or no English.

As La Puente resident Bea Garcia explains medical forms at the front desk, her contribution to the operation quickly becomes clear. Patients whose faces are knit with nervousness or confusion visibly relax as Garcia translates the forms into smoothly flowing Spanish.

For Ken Metzger, 79, of Glendora, volunteering at the clinic has become a family affair. While his wife, Ione, measures patients’ height and weight, Metzger, a General Motors employee for 35 years, entertains the many children waiting in the hall. His specialty: fashioning brightly-colored animals from a seemingly endless supply of balloons in his pockets.

“My son, Charles, got us involved,” Metzger says as he hands a red balloon poodle to a small child standing at his feet. “He’s one of the doctors who volunteers here.”

The creative force behind this hive of activity is Dr. George Ferenczi, 45, a Glendora-based gastroenterologist who came up with the idea after seeing the increasing number of people who could no longer afford routine medical care.

“I originally wanted to set up a free clinic,” Ferenczi said. “But after seeing how difficult and expensive it would be, I decided to contact the county and see if they would be willing to help.

“Initially, the county was shocked. They couldn’t believe that doctors and nurses would work for free.”

But while the clinic’s operating costs are fairly low, Ferenczi said there is an ongoing need for donations.

“If we have more funds, we can provide better services and can obtain some medicines that we can’t afford to buy right now,” Ferenczi said.

Donations are being handled by the Foothill Foundation. (Information: Karen Goodyear at (818) 335-4618.)

Support for the clinic is also being provided by local hospitals and community organizations. Foothill Presbyterian Hospital is providing free lab work, and both Foothill and San Dimas Community Hospital are underwriting the clinic’s administrative costs. Several pharmaceutical manufacturers, including Merck, Glaxo and Eli Lilly, have agreed to provide medical supplies.

Services are available Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday evenings from 7 to 9. Patients may make an appointment by calling (818) 334-1209 during clinic hours. Walk-in patients will be seen on a space-available basis. The clinic is unable to deal with emergencies or conditions that require hospitalization.