MADISON — Our Lady of Hope Clinic, Dane County’s only full-time free primary medical care clinic for the uninsured, has partnered with St. Mary’s Hospital to expand the scope of medical care the clinic is able to provide.
| Clinic seeks volunteer couriers |
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| Our Lady of Hope Clinic is looking for volunteer couriers willing to transport lab work from its clinic, located at 6425 Odana Rd. in Madison, to the laboratory at St. Mary’s Hospital. Volunteers must have their own transportation and availability at the end of the work day. Contact Julie Jensen, at 608-957-1137 or [email protected] for more information. | |
Thanks to a generous donation from St. Mary’s Hospital, the clinic has been able to provide free laboratory testing for qualified uninsured patients, since June 1, 2012.
Care for those in need
Our Lady of Hope Clinic offers concierge primary care to benefactors who pay an annual fee for continuous direct access to a personal physician. The benefactor fees also support the clinic’s philanthropic mission of providing free medical care to those in need.
However, the clinic has limited laboratory funding and Dr. Michael Kloess, a provider for the clinic, was often required to refer his patients to outside laboratories for medical testing.
Although all of the medical care at Our Lady of Hope Clinic is free, patients are required to pay for off-site testing and care.
St. Mary’s partnership
Through the St. Mary’s partnership, the qualifying recipient patients at Our Lady of Hope Clinic can now receive basic laboratory tests at the clinic, and the results will be run at St. Mary’s free of charge to both the clinic and the patient.
Additionally, patients requiring more complex testing will be able to register at the St. Mary’s lab as an Our Lady of Hope Clinic outpatient for free lab testing as well.
“I am so grateful for the support of St. Mary’s Hospital. In the past, I would often find that my uninsured patients would not follow through with laboratory orders because they were unable to afford the lab bills,” Dr. Kloess explained.
“That made it difficult, if not impossible, to diagnose and treat my patient’s illness and chronic conditions. Thanks to this partnership, we are setting a higher standard of care for patients.”
For additional information about Our Lady of Hope Clinic, visit their Web site at www.ourladyofhopeclinic.org or contact Julie Jensen, director of development, at 608-957-1137 or [email protected]