Here in the Rochester community, InterVol has been able to provide medical supplies & equipment to over 50 nonprofit organizations. One of the organizations that we are particularly close to is St. Joseph's Neighborhood Center.
St. Joe's is a nonprofit clinic that serves patients who cannot afford health insurance but are not eligible for Medicaid. There is no geographic limitation on the population served at St. Joe's and about 3,000 patients are seen each year. The team provides comprehensive health care including counseling, dental care, and social work. However, one thing that the center has not had the resources to provide is general surgery consultation and minor outpatient procedures.
Until now.
A student outreach group from the University at Rochester, the UR Well Clinic, has developed a program known as Procedure Night at St. Joseph's Neighborhood Center. This program is aimed at addressing the gap in surgical care for the patients and runs every other month. In August 2018, with the help of a local general surgeon, the medical student-run clinic began servicing the patients at St. Joe's.
Procedure Night provides in-office procedures like the removal of lipomas or sebaceous cysts in order to broaden the services available to the individuals in need of care. This unique program also provides medical students with an opportunity to gain experience with basic surgical tools and skills under the direct supervision of the faculty surgeon.
St. Joseph's Neighborhood Center's ability to host a surgical clinic is thanks in part to an onsite autoclave that services the dental program as well as the facilities that are available to offer gynecological and dermatological procedures. However, purchasing medical supplies to stock the facility can be extremely costly.
That's where we come in.
The UR Well Clinic @ St. Joseph's Neighborhood Center reached out to InterVol in an effort to stock the shelves for the Procedure Night program. A few students came into our office this summer on shopping trips to prepare for the program kick-off. They gathered items like drapes, gauze, skin prep items, and surgical instruments in order to be fully prepared for the upcoming procedures. Mariah Blegen, a student volunteer with the UR Well Clinic who came in to shop on several occasions explains, “So far, a majority of the required materials have been obtained through donation from InterVol which we are extremely grateful for, and could not have gotten the project off the ground without their donations.”
We are so grateful to have been able to provide these supplies to such an incredible program. The donors in the Rochester community are some of the most generous and resourceful individuals around. Every day, we receive donations of medical supplies from the local hospitals, local doctors' offices, individuals just looking to clean out their closets, and so many more.
It is the generous spirit of the Rochester community and our commitment to sustainable healthcare that allows organizations like InterVol, St. Joseph's Neighborhood Center, and the UR Well Clinic to continue to serve the people of Rochester and beyond.
From all of us here at InterVol, thanks so much to St. Joe's, the volunteers with the UR Well Clinic, and the entire Rochester community for all that you do!