Everyone agrees that preventative care saves lives and money. However, preventative care is nearly impossible when a trip to an urgent care clinic breaks the bank. The waiting lines for a possible infection don’t exist.
Pam Voltz and Rachel Dueker founded Without Strings this year to help provide preventative healthcare to low- and no-income community members. “Pam Voltz watched yet another low-income client die in the Salem ICU, a death preventable from a flu shot. Since our first clinic, our group has grown from nurses, PA’s, CNA’s and ordinary citizens doing big things in small doses because we no longer wish to wait for government to step in,” said Rachel Dueker, co-founder of Without Strings.
With no paid staff, no office overhead, and no budget, the group successfully put on two preventative care clinics under the Marion Street Bridge. “We work under the bridge to keep it accessible and go where folks can easily find us,” Dueker said.
What started out as a vaccine clinic has grown to serve the needs of those who need it most. “A lot of these guys are on their feet a lot. They have a lot of foot problems. If they get in front of a doctor it’s because they have an immediate need. No one is talking prevention,” Dueker said.
“Folks can have their feet cleaned, assessed, treated and are sent away with clean socks, wound care and anti-fungal kits,” Dueker said. With donations, volunteers are able to serve patients a hot meal as well.
Voltz, a physician’s assistant student, coordinates the medical care, and Dueker is a former drug and alcohol counselor who works with the social services aspect and recruits volunteers. Volunteers, grants and donations make the clinic happen. “We don’t just stand behind the table and talk to these guys, we interact. For a lot of the folks who have no income they don’t get listened to a lot. It’s about having to wait. A lot of these people are really used to people looking through them, and not at them,” Dueker said.
About 80 people receive services at the open-air clinics. It takes a partnership between OHSU nursing students, every floor of the Salem Hospital, and donations to make the clinics happen. “We received two grants and we were able to buy 120 pairs of diabetic compression socks for our patients,” said Dueker. The Nurses Give Back Program has supported the program through grants.
“We are starting to see that we are providing a resource for people to talk about what their needs are in a relaxed setting,” said Dueker. The group isn’t about asking patients to make lifestyle changes. They are there to serve the clients where they are right now.
One man came through the line and got his flu shot, but refused his pneumonia shot. “A couple of weeks ago he was admitted to ICU for pneumonia; he died in the hospital. But we knew him. About four nurses had worked with him in the community, and he didn’t have to die alone,” Dueker said.
For more information or to find out how to volunteer, go to withoutstrings.org. Update: This version is slightly different from the print version. The website has been corrected and Voltz’s is a physician’s assistant student, instead of a physician’s assistant as previously published.
