Christ Church Clinic

If you come to the parish hall of Christ Episcopal Church in Stroudsburg, Pa on the first Saturday morning of the month, you'll find our health clinic in progress.

Patients arrive between 9 and 11 am, are greeted by our volunteers, and fill out forms at our Sunday school and coffee hour tables. A nurse interviews each patient and records vital signs. Finally, the patient does into our examining room, also known as the church nursery, to see the doctor. Sometimes we serve coffee or tea.

We don't schedule appointments. Because the doctor is thorough, patients may have to wait. They may browse through information on local human services as well as church leaflets.

Our rector makes a point of being available should anyone wish to speak to her. Thought the atmosphere is informal and friendly, the care given by our volunteer nurses and the doctor is highly professional.

Our doctor is a member of the parish who had been looking for a way to volunteer his services to the community. The vestry supported his idea of a church clinic; last year the right time came to make it reality.

A local physician died in 2001, leaving a generous undesignated bequest to the church; it was fitting to use a portion of his gift to support a clinic.

Our church already had a healing ministry; the Rev. Elizabeth S. Haynes, our rector, conducts a service every Wednesday with laying on of hands and prayers for spiritual and physical healing. The clinic adds another dimension. Parishioners have been enthusiastic.

The clinic is for people who have no health insurance. Some have jobs that don't include coverage, others are disabled or unemployed and waiting for benefits.

Our physician, Thomas Papa, MD, an internist and specialist in infectious diseases, has seen firsthand how, for want of money to pay a doctor, uninsured people often end up with serious medical problems.

While working at a tuberculosis clinic in Wilkes-Barre, he heard about the health clinic at St. Stephen's there. Clinic director Shirley Smith shared her experience during our start-up phase. We were also encouraged by Diana Marshall, chair of the diocesan Health Advocacy Committee.

Workers at the clinic are unpaid: the doctor, nurses and those who greet patients, distribute paper work, and assemble charts.

A church does not have to have parishioners working in the medical field to embark on a similar project. As the doctor's wife and a vestry member, I coordinate the clinic. Like many of our volunteers, I have no medical training. We ran our first few clinic sessions without nurses. A nurse, however, does help enormously. We are fortunate to have some trained nurses in the parish who volunteer, and we're thrilled that two nurses from the local medical community came forward to help on a regular basis.

The clinic has taken on its own momentum. The local newspaper published a feature and a newspaper editorial - This church's congregation, small but mighty, recognizes the importance of ministering to the body as well as the soul - brought a large gift from an area philanthropist and other welcome donations.

The Pocono Medical Center, where we sent our patients for tests when necessary, and the whole community have been very supportive.