The Amaus Pediatric Clinic opened on June 16th. It is staffed by a pediatric nurse practitioner, an experienced pediatric nurse, a dedicated second year medical student who plans on going into pediatrics and volunteers from the community, the cathedral parish and a local high school.
We did not know what to expect when peds clinic started. We are prepared to care for ages 0-21 – this is quite a wide range!!! The first few weeks in June and July were slow then word spread and by August we had a full clinic and waiting room by 4:30 (clinic actually starts at 5). Clinic hours are 5-7 but thanks to our group of volunteers we often stayed until 8-8:30 and did not turn anyone away. We will plan to have additional hours next August and September to accomodate the extra demand for school physicals.
The main focus of clinic has been physical exams and completion of paperwork for daycare, school and sports. We have seen many children under 5 who needed paperwork for headstart or daycare. Of course, until a child is enrolled in daycare the parent cannot attend work – daycare centers are rightfully very strict about not letting children in without health clearance. However, waiting 2-3 weeks for a doctors appointment for a physical means 2-3 weeks that the parent cannot work. Many children had relocated to the area and were Medicaid pending or had Medicaid but were unable to schedule an appointment for several weeks (or even months) out. Children with special needs (occupational therapy, physical therapy, developmental delay) receive these services through the school district so a completed physical form is a ticket to entry.
Recently our focus has been sports physicals for teenagers. Again, unless the physical form is completed the child cannot participate and as we all know teenagers are quite likely to leave things until the last minute. One young man attempted to attend track practice on a Tuesday and his coach sent him to us instead. Participation in sports is so important for so many reasons – both physical and developmental.
We have referred children to immunization clinic, dental clinic, WIC, facilitated enrollment for CHP, and counseling services. We also discovered that Lens Crafters has an easily accessible (with the required paperwork) program called the Gift of Sight that will provide a free eye exam and eyeglasses.
The Center for Disease Control (CDC) came out with a new recommendation this year that all children under age 19 receive flu vaccine – previously it had been recommended for those under age 5 or with a chronic illness. Luckily we had a generous supply of flu vaccine and were able to vaccinate all children who came in for physicals (and a few parents too!!!)
We are currently open every other Tuesday evening from 5-7 pm. Our volunteers work or attend school full time and come to clinic after a full days work. Somehow we find ourselves looking forward to it every single week!!! There is a very jovial atmosphere in a pediatric clinic – we may come in tired but everyone leaves with a smile on their face.
We have seen 80 children since June with ages ranging from 11 months to 21 years and 11 months. We are looking forward to another year, planning for the busy seasons and continuing to learn something new every week.
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