CONTACT: SCOTT
COSTELLO
(662) 377-2404
Visit www.nmhs.net
for an electronic version of this article.
PROVIDES FINANCIAL AID FOR PATIENTS
Donations to the Health Care Foundation
of North Mississippi help provide needy patients with medications,
transportation for treatment and medical equipment as well as nutritional and
personal care needs.
These funds are distributed by the
Foundation to Patient Assistance Funds throughout North Mississippi Medical
Center, including the Cancer Center, Diabetes Treatment Center and Home Health
Agency.
“The Patient
Assistance Fund allocates funding to buy nausea and pain medications and cancer
treament drugs for uninsured and low income patients,” said Cindy Edwards, a
social worker at the NMMC Cancer Center. “It also provides funds for
nutrititional supplements for patients who are not able to eat solid foods.”
According to Edwards, the Cancer Center
Patient Assistance Fund spends between $10,000 to $18,000 per month to serve 65
to 100 patients. Those funds assist cancer patients and their families with
medications, nutritional supplements and transportation.
“If a patient coming in for treatment
is having terrible nausea and vomiting, anti-nausea medication is $25 per
tablet. Patients who don’t have any money would not be able to get it without
some help,” Edwards said. “The same thing applies with pain medication. We take
care of things that otherwise might not get done.”
Eligible patients may be identified in
a couple of ways. Every Cancer Center patient fills out a questionnaire that
includes a social service section. Sometimes, a therapist or nurse may
recommend that Edwards talk to a patient about getting help.
“Whatever the need
is, we meet it,” she said. “If they need a walker, help with transportation, if
it’s an emergency situation and they need help with rent or the electric or gas
bill, we’ll take care of it.”
The Patient
Assistance Fund also provides a shuttle service for Cancer Center patients who
live within 60 miles of the center and have no transportation for treatment.
“This service is invaluable to people who have no car and no other way of
getting here,” Edwards said. “We have patients from 24 counties and some drive
an hour or more to get here.”
Edwards said one of
the biggest joys of her job is seeing the reaction of patients and their
families after receiving help from the fund.
“The response by people who are helped
is unbelievable. I’ve had patients cry and hug and kiss me. To them, the help
they receive from the fund is as important as the treatment they’re getting
every day,” she said.
Foundation also
makes a difference in the lives of many diabetes patients, whether it's paying
for diabetes self-management classes or sending a child to diabetes summer
camp.
Last year alone, the Diabetes Patient
Assistance Fund provided more than $87,000 for over 200 patients throughout
north Mississippi and northwest Alabama. The fund is expected to provide aid of
more than $100,000 in 2003.
“This is the only fund I know of that
helps diabetes patients with education and supplies,” said Carolyn Gillentine,
programs liaison for the NMMC Diabetes Treatment Center. “The needs of a
diabetes patient are constantly changing as they get older, and many clients
need help with education and supplies.”
The Diabetes Patient Assistance Fund
helps patients purchase supplies such as glucose meters, strips and lancets to
properly monitor insulin levels. It also pays for education, such as diabetes
self-management classes.
Since 1997, the Diabetes Summer Camp
Fund has helped send about 50 children age 7-16 to a summer camp especially for
them.
North Mississippi
Medical Center’s Home Health Agency and Hospice Program provided nearly $50,000
in funding in 2002 through the Linda Russell and Bridget White Home Health
Patient Assistance Fund. The assistance fund paid for medication, equipment,
food and nutritional supplements, transportation and utilities for needy
patients.
It has become truly
a team effort for the Home Health Agency as 85 percent of employees contribute
to the Patient Assistance Fund. “I think because they visit patients in their
home and see the needs, it makes it more personal,” said Gina Smith, social
work coordinator for the NMMC Home Health Agency. “It’s a good feeling and we
relay that back to the employees. We tell them how money is spent and remind
them that their giving is for the patients they see every day.”
Social workers do financial assessments
on each patient and determine whether they are eligible for assistance from the
fund, which was established in February 1996. Referrals are also made by other
home health employees in the field.
“An employee will go out and find a
patient who doesn’t have any food in the house. The employee will record the
need and let the social worker know,” Smith said. “We work together to do it
quickly. If the patient needs medications today, he can get it today.”
Smith said that while the fund is a
safety net in times of crises for patients, it can also be a tool for better
outcomes. “The help we’re providing goes a long way toward preventing
hospitilizations by getting patients things like medication planners for
medication compliance and scales to keep track of their weight,” she said.
According
to Smith, NMMC Home Health Agency’s social workers routinely spend $2,500 each
month to purchase medications and durable medical equipment for needy home
health patients, as well as provide transportation for treatment to patients
who live in rural areas.
Donations to the Health Care Foundation
of North Mississippi’s Patient Assistance Funds help needy patients with
medication costs, transportation expenses associated with treatment for their
illness, medical equipment for their homes, and nutritional and personal care
needs. Patient Assistance Funds are available for the following areas:
Behavioral Health Center
Baldwyn Nursing Facility
Breast Care Center
Cancer Center
Community Health
Diabetes Treatment Center
Center for Digestive Health
North Mississippi Medical Clinics
Heart Institute
Home Health Agency
NMMC-Eupora
NMMC-Hamilton (Alabama)
NMMC-Iuka
NMMC-Pontotoc
NMMC-West Point
Patient & Family Care Fund
Rehabilitation & Respiratory Therapy
Women's Hospital
For more information, call (662)
377-3613 or 1-800 THE DESK (1-800-843-3375). Donations can be designated for a
particular fund. Checks can be made payable to the Health Care Foundation of
North Mississippi.
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