The Gift of Caring : Volunteer Doctors Treat 10,000 Kids a Year at Tiny Free Clinic

St. John’s Well Child Center is a drafty hole-in-the-wall in a neighborhood where $10 can mean the difference between going hungry and feeding a family of five.

There is no high-tech medical equipment or fancy office furniture at the tiny South-Central Los Angeles clinic, just a jumble of mismatched file cabinets and Formica examination tables.

Although it lacks the posh decor, the clinic on West 27th Street is a small-scale health services pioneer, offering free medical care on a shoestring budget to nearly 10,000 children annually.

As the economic condition of the neighborhood has spiraled downward into extreme poverty, the clinic has stepped into the fray, soothing the wounds and comforting needy youngsters, many of them children of recent immigrants who survive on $600 a month or less.

Office hours depend entirely on the availability of a dozen physicians--including some of Los Angeles’ top doctors--who volunteer their time for the simple reward of helping the city’s poor.

The clinic is open at least three days each week. When it is, the lobby bustles with parents and children dressed in clean hand-me-downs. Their voices echo through a sunlit hallway that leads to several small examination rooms.

Sylvia De La Rosa, a struggling single mother, started coming here with her children nearly seven years ago because she could not afford the cost of a private physician.

With the money she saves on medical exams, De La Rosa can buy ice cream and new shoes for her three little ones--the extras they otherwise would have to do without.

“It not only makes a difference for me, but it also helps a lot of people,” said De La Rosa, 26, waiting to get shots for her 2-year-old daughter, Esther. “There are a lot of people who don’t have the resources to go to a regular clinic. It’s hard nowadays. This makes it a little easier.”

Diana Pitts, a South-Central resident who is attending community college full time, brought in her 5-year-old daughter for a routine checkup.

“I figure this will save me about $35,” said Pitts, a nursing student. “It helps a lot.”

Hidden in a rough industrial area near Adams Boulevard and Figueroa Street, the clinic opened 30 years ago in a drab, stucco building used for Sunday school classrooms by St. John’s Episcopal Church.

It was founded by the parish and members of the Los Angeles Pediatric Society, after a church survey found that many of the neighborhood children were not receiving immunization for polio, measles and other diseases.

Although the clinic was started simply to administer shots, volunteer doctors soon began treating children with colds, ear infections, lice and chicken pox.

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Dr. Kenneth O. Williams, retired USC professor and children’s cancer specialist, helped set up the tiny operation in the early 1960s. These days, he’s been working as the volunteer medical director of the clinic, which survives on a $150,000 budget fueled by donations and grants.

Williams arrived at St. John’s about 5 p.m. last Tuesday and locked up his 1989 Toyota Tercel near a street sign that warned: “Park at Your Own Risk.”

Williams, 68, opened the clinic’s iron security door and walked into a packed lobby. It would take him several hours to see the 10 children who waited for his services.

“I went to the Third World and South America in 1963,” Williams said. “I was a little naive. I thought there was only tremendous health need in those underdeveloped countries.

“When I came back to Los Angeles, I realized there was a similar need in our country. I decided to get involved here.”

On Tuesday evening, the ailments of the youngsters were typical: One girl had ringworm, a boy had a rash from wetting the bed, one baby had a cold, the rest of the youngsters needed routine checkups and shots.

Although most of the children appeared healthy, several were thin.

“They just don’t eat right,” one mother told Williams. “I don’t know what to do.”

Williams explained the importance of making sure the children get a balanced diet. After the woman left, he shook his head in dismay.

“She works in a sewing factory making $600 a month,” Williams said. “You divide that by five people, there’s not that much left over. I hate to think of what they are paying for their little apartment.”

The clinic rarely sees children whose parents earn more than $800 a month. Six hundred dollars is the average.

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Most of the parents are recent immigrants from Mexico and Central America; others are struggling students or just down on their luck. Most of the families find out about the clinic from a friend or relative.

Over the past few years, the number of patients has more than doubled, partially because the clinic has made an effort to open more often, usually Tuesday and Thursday evenings and Saturday mornings.

“This is one of the richest countries in the world and I think that at least we should be able to provide health care for our children,” said Executive Director Jim Mangia, one of four paid staff members.

“If we weren’t here, many, many children would go unimmunized. That impacts the whole community, whether you live in South-Central or Beverly Hills. Diseases do not stop at city boundaries.”

Mangia wishes the clinic could do more.

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To keep down the cost of malpractice insurance, the facility treats only routine illnesses. Youngsters with conditions more serious than the common cold are often referred to larger health centers.

Finding volunteer doctors to staff the clinic also has been a problem. “If we had the doctors, we would open every day,” Mangia said. Some physicians have expressed concern about venturing into the crime-plagued neighborhood.

Currently, about a dozen doctors--whose specialties range from rehabilitative medicine to pediatrics--volunteer their services once a month.

Dr. Shirley Fannin, director of disease control for Los Angeles County, has worked at St. John’s for 18 years. She sees the clinic as a welcome break from her county administrative job.

“This allows me to listen to hearts, feel tummies and talk to parents,” Fannin said.

Dr. Luis Montes, who treats children with spinal cord injuries at a Los Angeles rehabilitation hospital, said he heard about the clinic two years ago from a colleague and decided to volunteer.

“The patients themselves touch your heart in many different ways,” Montes said. “The parents really beam up when we compliment them on how good of a job they are doing.

“Despite their poverty, they have a sense of hope. They have a sense of opportunity for their children.”

On a recent Saturday, Ofelia Gallegos drove from Cudahy to get shots and a checkup for her youngest daughter, Diana, age 17 months.

She found out about the clinic 15 years ago from a relative and has brought all five of her children there.

“My husband is out of work,” said Gallegos, sitting on a lopsided child’s chair. “Times are tough for us. But my first priority is to make sure my kids are in good health. I like the care here. Plus, it’s free.”