The Ohio Valley Health Center’s (OVHC) mission is to provide high-quality health care for the medically uninsured and underinsured individuals of the Ohio Valley, regardless of their ability to pay. Since 2006, this state-of-the-art facility has provided compassionate and comprehensive care to thousands of individuals. Their staff and volunteers strive to provide innovative and collaborative health care solutions that help patients develop a strong health care team that can support them for years to come. The clinic is located in Steubenville, OH and is the only free clinic within over 50 miles of Steubenville. All of their Nurse Practitioners (NP) volunteer their services one day per week.
For years, two Duquesne nursing faculty members have been volunteering their time to support the OVHC mission. Dr. Denis Lucas, PhD, FNP-BC, CRNP, FAANP, Clinical Associate Professor, and Chair, Advanced Practice Programs, is from the area and was aware of the health care center and the services it provided. Lucas has been volunteering at the center since 2012, seeing patients each Tuesday, and still contributes her time to the OVHC today. “I wanted to be part of the work caring for those people who are uninsured and underserved. It’s turned into a ‘family practice’ where we have precepted a number of Duquesne students, providing them with experience caring for the marginalized,” she explains.
Sister Mary Meyers, DNP, MSN, AGNP-C, BSN, MS, BA, Director of Academic Support and NCLEX-RN Success, was one of those students. She began precepting at the OVHC when she was in school completing her NP program. She reflected, “I did two clinical rotations with Dr. Lucas and immediately saw the lifesaving differences this clinic made to the poor in this area. For me, it was health care at the ground level; health care as it should be where the sole focus is how to help a person. When the opportunity came to join Dr. Lucas to volunteer on Tuesdays, I jumped at the chance.”
Many Duquesne students have also gone the same route as Sr. Meyers, having continued to volunteer after precepting. Alumna, Janet Bischoff, PhD, RN, NE-BC, CNE takes time out of her Tuesday schedule as well to join Lucas and Meyers in supporting the Center. Typically, Duquesne supplies two NPs per week to support the clinic. The School is instrumental in moving health care workers to the local area and moving the local area towards better health and wellness for the community there. Lucas explains that “We precept our own FNP students and give them an incredible experience of health care at its best. Students see a segment of society they might not have met before, and they discover these people are just like them! The students add a wonderful dimension to patient care and are loved by the patients. Our students often return because the experience was so rich for them.” Sr. Meyers chimed in to add, “Every single student has described it as their best and favorite clinical. They have a wide array of primary care issues and learn how to work with what you have to assist people without insurance. I always say we are the ‘MacGyver’ of health care! Many of them fall in love with this population and look for jobs in the area to continue to provide care.”
The health care disparity the area faces is caused by numerous reasons. For one, transportation is an issue in an area as rural as the Ohio Valley, especially for those who do not have a care or can’t drive. Lucas recalls, “We had a patient who had to take a bus for his cardiac catheterization!” Also, physicians don’t tend to come to rural areas so the population is underserved in terms of staffing. Rural areas tend to have a lower income as well. “Couple that with lack of insurance, and you can see how the people in rural communities get the least help,” Sr. Meyers explains.
For urban students, one could see how this issue would be eye opening. For others, they can relate to coming from a similar area and are thrilled to be in a position to help a community so similar to their own. Sr. Meyers hopes that “students see this population as not much different than themselves, deserving of good health and dignity. I hope that any stereotypes they might have are wiped away. I hope that they are better, strong, more compassionate health care professionals after serving in this area.” Lucas, who is from the area of herself, goes on to say, “I want students to realize the level and depth of care that many patients require, how to develop a relationship and how to gently ask questions that are critical in building trust so the patient will feel safe to come back. We don’t see patients in fifteen-minute visits, rely heavily on community resources and other agencies, or focus on the social detriments to health. We are actually carving out the concept of ‘resources’ in underserved patients as we go.”
The School of Nursing has also done tremendous work to support the Center in terms of fundraising efforts. In fact, they supported the Center’s largest fundraising effort, the Gala, last Spring. The School is committed in every way to supporting the most vulnerable areas and raising their health care standards to reflect the access common in more urban areas.
As for OVHC Tuesday Team, Lucas, Meyers and Bischoff intend to keep venturing from Duquesne to Steubenville to support their patients. “This has been a life changing experience for me. I love my Tuesdays with Denise, Janice and the OVHC group!” Lucas adds, “Mary and I have been a great team and are joined by our alumna and graduate admissions reviewer, Dr. Bischoff, on Tuesdays as well. In addition to direct patient care opportunities, this has provided a great avenue for scholarship, research and other work. If any School of Nursing member is interested in knowing more or looking for a place to make a difference, let me know, and we can give you that.”
If you are interested in becoming involved, volunteering or donating to OVHC, visit their website for more information or email Lucas or Sr.%20Meyers.
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