Healthcare grants help free medical programs, others

By Bill Doyle | CFP Correspondent

Lisa Izzo, executive director of the St. Anne Free Medical Program in Shrewsbury and St. Peter Free Medical Center in Worcester, will never forget the day that a father was so appreciative of the free medical care his child had received, he teared up and hugged her.
Many times, patients have shaken her hand and thanked her.

“It makes me feel like you’re doing the right thing,” Mrs. Izzo said, “but on the flip side, it makes you kind of upset because we really shouldn’t exist. We shouldn’t have to exist. The state needs to do more.”

Until the state or anyone else does more to address the medical needs of the underprivileged, the free medical programs will do everything they can to help.

Mrs. Izzo has been executive director of the program at St. Anne Parish since 2016 and at St. Peter Parish since that location was founded in 2020 due to the overflow of clients at St. Anne.

The St. Anne program is open 6-8 p.m. on Tuesdays and the St. Peter program is open 6-8 p.m. on Thursdays. Both locations often remain open well past 8 p.m. because of the number of people who need care. About 60 people visit St. Anne each week and about 40 visit St. Peter. Most visit only once or twice so it’s not the same people every week.

The two parishes offer space for the medical programs at no charge. They provide physical exams, sick visits, immunizations, prescription refills and more for people of all ages.

The medical programs were among the 22 non-profit organizations that received a total of $97,000 in grants last month from the St. Vincent Community Healthcare Fund. Each program received $10,000 each, the most ever.

“It is extremely important because both of these programs,” Mrs. Izzo said, “live off of donations and grants.”

The St. Vincent grants will mostly cover the costs of laboratory work with the rest helping pay for medical supplies.

The St. Vincent Community Healthcare Fund awarded 23 grants worth $68,500 last year and has distributed $1.42 million since it was established in June of 1998. The Diocese of Worcester oversees the fund, which supports free health programs, mental health and substance abuse counseling, school nursing and healthcare, and nursing care and medication for homeless families and shelters.

Mrs. Izzo volunteers her time at the medical programs as do 90 or so others, including Dr. Jane Lochrie, the medical director; 15 other physicians, medical students, nurses, interpreters and clerical staff. Not everyone volunteers each week so it can take a couple of hours for a patient to be seen.

Mrs. Izzo said the locations recently are seeing more clients who need greater care.
The medical programs care mostly for patients who are uninsured or underinsured. Some have health insurance, but only to visit an emergency room.

“But what if they have a rash?” Mrs. Izzo said. “Are you going to go to the emergency room for a rash?”

No. So they go there instead.

Some clients who are new to the area may have full health insurance, but they cannot book an appointment with a primary health care physician for several months.

“So what if you need a work physical to start a new job?” Mrs. Izzo said.

They could pay for one at an urgent care facility or go to the free medical programs for that physical and even a tuberculosis test if one is required.

Mrs. Izzo said the Edward M. Kennedy Community Health Center and the Family Health Center of Worcester both have long waiting lists for patients. So her programs help those who cannot wait.

If a primary health care physician leaves a practice, the replacement physician may not refill a blood pressure medication until seeing the patient. That appointment could be several months away. The free programs can fill that prescription.

Mrs. Izzo said they see a lot of people who are new to the area, even new to the country, who are trying to enroll their children in school without having a pediatrician who can give them a required physical. MassHealth can help them find a doctor, but it can take time.

“So that’s weeks and weeks that your kid is not in school,” Mrs. Izzo said.

Immigrants visit the free medical prgrams for vaccines. Mrs. Izzo said she has met Haitians who have traveled through Chile and other countries for a year or more before finally arriving in the U.S.

“Their knowledge base is that they’ll be taken care of in the United States,” she said.

Mrs. Izzo said those immigrants don’t realize that the healthcare system in Massachusetts is approaching full capacity.

“If we didn’t exist,” she said, “those people would end up in the emergency room and our emergency rooms would be full or on lockdown because they wouldn’t be able to take on more patients.”

For more information, visit worcesterfreecare.org/medical-programs/st-peters or worcesterfreecare.org/medical-programs/st-annes.

The St. Vincent Community Healthcare Fund also awarded St. Luke’s Guesthouse for Healthcare in Southbridge $10,000, the second largest donation it received from anyone this year and the most it has been awarded by the St. Vincent fund. The guesthouse uses the grant to help fund a caseworker who provides counseling and for some incidental expenses.
The 12-bed guesthouse is open to anyone in need of temporary shelter as long as they abstain from drugs and alcohol and follow guesthouse rules.

Dr. John Howland, a former volunteer at St. Anne Free Medical Program, helped found St. Luke’s Guesthouse in 2017 and is one of its 15 volunteers. Dr. Howland is also a family physician at UMass Memorial Health-Harrington Hospital in Southbridge.

He stepped down from the guesthouse board last year, but remains as president emeritus. His wife, Susan, remains on the board, keeps the books and is vice president of administration and human resources. The guesthouse has three paid employees.

St. Luke’s is the only free shelter in southern Worcester County that is open to men, women and families. Last year, St. Luke’s provided the equivalent of 3,200 nights of shelter and so far this year has provided more than 2,700.

Those in need of shelter can call St. Luke’s at 774-230-6416. St. Luke’s is not an emergency shelter. After undergoing CORI checks, clients have stayed anywhere from a few days to six months or more, depending on how long it takes them to find housing.

“First of all, we provide Christian hospitality,” Dr. Howland said, “and a safe place for them to be off the streets. Everybody who comes to us has experienced some form of stress and trauma. We have people who have been living in the woods, living in cars, evicted from their apartments and experienced very difficult times.”

St. Luke’s helps clients find housing and secure ID cards when needed.

A young woman who had been struggling with addiction and homelessness for a number of years stayed at St. Luke’s for a while before being asked to leave because she suffered a relapse. On her way out, she asked Dr. Howland why the volunteers helped the homeless, especially at no charge.

“I said, ‘For the love of Christ,’” Dr. Howland said. “She was in tears.”

Dr. Howland said the region is in the midst of a severe housing shortage and homelessness has become an even greater problem.

“I feel like we’re doing something that’s pleasing to the Lord,” Dr. Howland said. “When you’re doing something that’s pleasing to the Lord, there’s a feeling of rightness, that you’re in the right place at the right time doing the right thing.”

The other grant recipients are Dismas House for the Restorative Healthcare Initiative; Pastoral Counseling Centers of MA, Inc. for the Assistance Fund; Problem Pregnancy of Worcester, Inc. for their Ultrasound Project; Our Lady of the Angels School for the School Health Office; Ministry to the Retired Priests for Healthcare Needs of Retired Priests; Saint Mary School, Shrewsbury for CPR/AED Training for Teachers and Staff; St. Paul Cathedral for its Elder Outreach; North Brookfield Senior Center for Senior Medical Rides; Carriage House Grief Support of Children’s Friend for the Grief Support Center; Catholic Charities Worcester County for the Diaper Assistance Program; Holy Family Academy for Student Health Care; Visitation House for the breastfeeding success program; Pernet Family Health Service for Maternal & Child Health services; St. Mary Health Care for specialized shower chairs; St. Paul Diocesan Jr./Sr. High School for their Student Social-Emotional Wellness Initiative; Carenet Pregnancy Resource Ctr. for Free Ultrasounds; Virginia Thurston Healing Garden, Inc. for support programs for Cancer Patients; 2Gether We Eat, Inc. for their Community Health Harvest; and El Buen Samaritano for Food is Medicine program.