Newsletter Updates

» remarks by dr. alieta eck

Saturday, February 28, 2004 - In September of 1999, Hurricane Floyd swept through the campus at Zarephath, covering 8 Liberty Square with 15 feet of water. The waters receded, and the building was left full of soggy sheetrock and rotted floorboards. The building was left empty for 18 months.

For several years, my husband, John, and I had had a dream to find a place to provide low cost health care to those without insurance, and we shared our dreams with others. The leadership of the Pillar of Fire were intrigued with the concept and decided to allow us to renovate the building. Many volunteers got to work, and the building was entirely gutted. The sturdy brick walls and roof had survived the flood, but new plumbing and electricity needed to be installed, and a new cement floor was poured. Plans were drawn up and a beautiful new medical facility took shape.

Ray Litwinetz volunteered countless hours to coordinate the final push. An 80 year old master tile layer, tiled the floors and bathrooms. Prestige Interiors donated and installed the office area countertops and file shelves. Siemens Technology was relocating to Pennsylvania and donated all of the office furniture. Surgical Associates of Bound Brook donated exam tables and an ultrasound machine. Countless other volunteers pitched in and the job was done.

Finally, by September of 2003, exactly four years after the flood, the building was ready to open. It was debt free, with a base operating expense of about $500. per month. We were ready to begin.

With an all volunteer staff and no ready made patient base, we began operating two half-days per week. John, a family practitioner, is there on Thursdays, and I, an internist, come every Monday. We usually have a receptionist and sometimes have a nurse. But we always seem to have just enough help.

Last Monday, I saw eight people. Let me give you an idea of who these patients are. Basically, most of our patients are just like you or I, with the misfortune of having been handed some difficult circumstances. One young 28 year old woman, I’ll call her CAROL, came to us, 6 months after her father had died from a long illness. She had been his primary caretaker while holding down a job in a drugstore. After her dad died, she became very depressed, losing her job, her apartment and her health coverage. Her extended family took her in. She applied for financial aid from the state, but was told that in order to qualify, she just needed to get pregnant.

She needed prescription medicine for a chronic disorder, but could not afford the $230. per month. We helped her access a program for the uninsured, whereby she could have a three month supply of her medicine for free. After three months, she was feeling better and making plans to take a six month course to be a phlebotomist. But the drug company was unwilling to supply more medicine until she proved that she had a letter of denial from the state programs. She is getting that. Meanwhile we called around, and found the best price for a one month supply of her medicine, paying for it with donations from people like you. Things are looking up for her, and we anticipate her to be on her own by the end of the summer. She probably won’t need us anymore. That is exactly how we want it.

We see many young adults who are newly out of college and off their parents’ insurance. DONNA just graduated from Rutgers, but was taking care of her sickly grandmother who was bedridden with end stage Alzheimer’s disease. She could not afford insurance, as she did not have a paycheck, so I was able to take care of a simple illness at no cost to her.

One of our patients, I’ll call her ALICE, is at home caring for her 54 year old sister who is dying of breast cancer. Her husband’s paycheck is just enough to keep the household going, but there is no health insurance. She herself has not had a mammogram in 5 years, and is at high risk of getting breast cancer herself. She went to a local hospital, but, since they own a house, was unable to get “charity care.” They did a checkup and blood work, handing her a bill for $495. She cannot pay for a mammogram, so has to wait. We’ll get her a mammogram, and next time, we’ll give her a check-up for free.

One more story—GEORGE is in his late 40’s is disabled with complicated diabetes. His disability income is $1000 per month and his rent is $725. While he is on Medicare and has a state run prescription plan, he cannot afford the $5. copay required to get his prescriptions. That was easy. We set up an account at the local pharmacy, so that he can draw down the funds to get his prescriptions. He went to the local food stamp office, and was told that he qualified for only $10 in food stamps. His church now supplies him with Shop Rite gift certificates. Why do we need to pay people to run a food stamp program if churches could do the same for those they know and care about?

People ask why we are doing this, and we reply by telling the story of the Good Samaritan. It is a story that Jesus told, about a man was lying by the side of the road, injured and bleeding. A minister walked by quickly, thinking he had to hurry to preach his sermon. Then, a Bible teacher came by, and also felt he had not time to stop due to urgent priorities. Finally, a Samaritan, a religious outcast, saw the man, stopped to help and brought him to a local Inn to recover. He gave the innkeeper cash, promising to help with more if it was needed.

We have determined to live our faith out by following the example of the Good Samaritan. When we see people in need, we are not going to demand another government program, but rather, we will use our own time, talent and resources to meet the needs that we see. We are hoping that many get involved—we are looking for physicians to donate 4 hours per month and support staff as well. We believe that there is a God in heaven, and that He would have us show compassion—meeting the physical, emotional, spiritual and relational needs of people we come in contact with. We do not shove religion down anyone’s throat, but we are ready to give an answer if anyone asks why we have an enthusiastic optimism about the future. We are free to tell them how a relationship with God provided the missing link in our lives, and how it can be the same for them.

We are not taking care of the masses, but one individual at a time. And if we can help them along, convince them that someone out there cares, encourage them to get back on their feet again, we will have made a lasting difference.