Access to health insurance and medical care has greatly changed for many western Kentucky residents with the closure of multiple factories and other shifts in the local economy. Rayla Bridges has seen quality insurance become more of luxury than a standard benefit for local workers.
As executive director of the St. Nicholas Family Clinic Foundation, Rayla has developed a passion for providing assistance for proper and affordable health care.
“People cannot stay employed if they are constantly sick. This affects the employer’s production and the local economy,” Bridges explained.
St. Nick’s was formerly known as a clinic that offered free healthcare to the employed but uninsured populations. From 1994 until 2013, health-care professionals volunteering their time operated the part-time clinic. It was quite successful and grew to be the largest free clinic of its kind in the state Kentucky.
However, Kentucky’s Medicaid expansion insured a majority of St. Nick’s clients, who had previously not been able to afford insurance. With this need met, the St. Nicholas clinic found itself at a point of transition. The organization’s board members, previous director and United Way began to research the best path for the future. United Way’s Impact Poverty studies indicated the need for a Federally Qualified Health Center, which is a community clinic whose mission is to see anyone, regardless of insurance status or ability to pay.
Enter a private clinic operator based in Arkansas, which had opened its first FQHC-designated clinic in Bardwell. The potential for collaboration could not have come at a better time.
Since September 2013, KentuckyCare has leased the clinic building and house next door and employed a full staff of healthcare and administrative professionals to cover the expanded full-time schedule and pharmacy. In addition to seeing anyone who walks in the door, the clinic also provides services to eligible St. Nick clients at a special negotiated fee schedule.
This new set-up enables the St. Nicholas Foundation to focus on providing financial assistance to the uninsured and underinsured.
“We still do what we’ve always done. We just go about it differently now,” Rayla said. “It’s a win-win for our clients.”
Also benefitting their clients is the recently expanded programming into dental, vision and hearing services. Most free dental programs only cover cleanings, fillings and extractions. The lack of dental care leads to periodontal disease, which can cause heart disease and other life-threatening conditions.
“Heart disease is on the rise in our region. By providing dental assistance to uninsured working adults, we are able to combat multiple health issues and keep people working longer and helping them progress in their careers,” Rayla said.
Dr. James Hunt, Broadway Dental Care; Dr. Jennifer Gibson, The Eye Center of Paducah; and Donnie Baker, Audibel Hearing Center, have come on board as alliance providers for this new initiative.
St. Nicholas has found that providing financial assistance to uninsured working adults for hearing and vision services to be beneficial on many levels as well. Two clients have come to the foundation after being grounded from a job for which hearing loss is major safety risk. By providing a quality, long-lasting hearing aid, St. Nick’s was able to keep these clients employed.
So far this year all five program areas have provided funding to improve the livelihoods of local workers. Between January and November, more than 90 services and procedures were provided to St. Nick clients, 332 prescriptions were provided and five sets of hearing aids were distributed. Since July, more than 104 dental appointments have been given, while 12 vision exams were scheduled in the first few weeks of being offered.
St. Nicholas remains a testament showing the goodwill of the people in western Kentucky as 100 percent of its funding comes from individuals in the region and from organizations such as United Way. No government funding is received.
With the future of Kentucky’s health care programming uncertain, St. Nicholas will remain a strong and steady service for western Kentucky, Rayla said.
“If you can’t see, you can’t work. If you can’t hear, you can’t work. We are committed to helping working adults in our community stay healthy and employed as long as we have the funds to do so.”
