Emotions, diagnoses flow as free clinic opens in W-B

WILKES-BARRE – For four years, Agnes Barberio was turned away from doctor after doctor at free clinic after clinic. The 49-year-old Larksville woman suffered from multiple ailments, including mouth problems that recently caused some of her teeth to fall out.

On Monday she entered the new Volunteers in Medicine Clinic accompanied by her husband, Michael. Expecting to be turned away, she broke down in tears when Dr. Susan F. Sordoni told the couple she would help them.

Michael cried as his wife hugged the doctor, then walked over to place a comforting hand on Agnes’ shoulder.

Tears and hugs. Those emotions played out while a half dozen other low-income patients who were employed but lacked health insurance sat in the air-conditioned waiting room of the North Pennsylvania Avenue office.

Monday was the first day of operation for Luzerne County’s only full-time free clinic.

Kelly L. Ranieli of Plains Township, the clinic’s executive director, said the emotions will likely be a common occurrence the first few weeks.

The brainchild of Sordoni, of Harveys Lake, the clinic was more than three years in the making. Modeled after other Volunteers in Medicine operations across the country, the clinic relies almost 100 percent on volunteers and 100 percent on donations, grants and private funding.

“It took a village” to get up and running, Sordoni said, noting the staff consists of nearly 150 volunteers and four paid positions. One of them -- medical director -- is unfilled, but Sordoni said she hopes a recently retired physician or a physician looking for a new challenge might come on board.

With more than 35,000 county residents who qualify, it’s not a cheap endeavor, but one nursing director Christine Gaughan said is needed.

There are six other part-time clinics in the county, from Mountain Top to the Back Mountain, which operate a few hours a week, mostly in the evening.

This clinic will operate from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. Efforts are under way to add evening and weekend hours.

Jim Cortegerone, deacon at St. John the Evangelist parish community on William Street, Pittston, runs a free clinic Wednesday nights at the nearby former Seton Catholic building. Since opening in November, he said more than 300 patients have sought treatment. He applauded Sordoni’s effort.

The clinic isn’t going to cure everyone but with a goal of preventive medicine, Sordoni said the burden placed on local emergency rooms will be lessened. Many uninsured wind up heading to a hospital emergency room for treatment, where the expense to treat them is passed along to taxpayers and the insured.

Dave Jolley, spokesman for Geisinger Health System, said a lot of patients use emergency rooms inappropriately. “The new clinic provides a better option for them.”

Geisinger has donated furniture and equipment and agreed to give $100,000 a year for the first two years of operation -- $40,000 in cash and $60,000 in the form of in-kind services, including the use of Geisinger equipment, specialists and lab services.

He said free clinics are vital to the community and will aid efforts to reduce health-care costs.

Barberio said clinics turned her away for various reasons: She didn’t live close enough or because her husband, who makes less than $700 a month on disability, was making too much money. At one point she said she was told she would be treated if she had been homeless. Outside the clinic, while his wife was being examined, Michael Barberio, 49, smoked a cigarette and said he was heartbroken for his wife who had been suffering for so long.

“It’s awful. We’re not alone. I can’t tell you just how important this is for us,” he said.

With at least 10 patients scheduled for each day this week and walk-ins expected, the clinic should be a busy place. Two patient rooms are open and four more will open by the end of July. Dental and optical services will be provided later this year.

Mental health and lab work can be performed at the clinic, which has a limited pharmacy.

“Every day will be a new challenge,” said Sordoni, who counts herself among the 150 volunteers. She said the journey over the past three years has been a winding one but has no regrets about taking the reins to bring the dream to fruition.

A closer look

The Volunteers in Medicine Clinic is housed in the former Buzzy’s Bazaar, 190 N. Pennsylvania Ave., Wilkes-Barre. To schedule an appointment, call 970-2864. To qualify, a patient must meet income guidelines. If they live alone, they must be employed but earn less than $20,800 annually. If their household has two occupants, the total annual earning must be less than $28,000. A family of four can’t have total earnings greater than $42,400 to qualify.

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Volunteers in Medicine Clinic, area’s only full-time facility, treat low-income patients.

A closer look

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