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From the Editor
While our main goal is to increase the number of patients we are able to serve, we also strive to add to and improve our services. Many of you may not be aware that the Health Center houses a pharmacy. In this issue, Dr. Michael Smith relates the interesting tale of his path to becoming a pharmacist. He has volunteered with us for thirteen years, and we are very grateful for his time and expertise.
Dr. Smith has observed major changes in the pharmacy during his years of volunteering. He, among other volunteers, has helped us offer our patients up-to-date and safe prescription medications, in an efficient manner. There are times, however, when we simply can't supply what a patient needs. You'll meet Jacque in this issue and gain an understanding of how we further assist those we are unable to help at our location.
Adding Monday afternoons to our schedule has already increased the number of patients we are able to serve. The Willard & Pat Walker Charitable Foundation has honored us for a third year with a Challenge Grant. This grant, matching donations up to $75,000, moves us closer to being open all day on Mondays. Our thanks, in advance, to the Walker family and to all others for your donations!
Thanks also to those who sponsored and/or participated in the annual FirstServe 2010 tennis tournament. We always seem to have hot days for this tournament but lots of support and fun.
Enjoy the rest of your summer!
Monika Fischer-Massie
Executive Director
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2010
The weather on June 18th, 19th, and 20th was hot. Still, approximately 50 individuals came to the Summerhill Racquet Club in Fayetteville and participated in this year's tennis tournament.
Northwest Arkansas Free Health Center operates solely on donations, making your support of this benefit of utmost importance. We truly appreciate the players and our sponsors, who make it possible for us to continue to serve those in need in our neighborhoods.
Thank you very much!
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Our goal is to use our funds to increase the number of patients we can serve. Any contributions that help achieve this end are gratefully received. Thank you, in advance!
We can use:
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To learn more about Northwest Arkansas Free Health Center's services and meet our Board of Directors, please visit -
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Your suggestions and support are always appreciated. If you can fulfill something on our Wish List, volunteer, or would like to offer a comment about our newsletter, please contact:
John Moores
Director of Development
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Third Walker Foundation
Challenge Grant Received!
A glance at the line chart below clearly shows that Northwest Arkansas Free Health Center continues to serve more patients each year. In 2009, we were able to expand our schedule by adding Monday afternoons. However, we still are not meeting the tremendous need of Northwest Arkansas' residents for health care. The number of individuals without health insurance continues to increase.
We are pleased to announce that the Willard & Pat Walker Charitable Foundation has awarded us a Challenge Grant for the third year. This year's grant amount is $75,000, which is $25,000 more than last year's. The Walker Foundation, up to this amount, will match each dollar that is donated to the Free Health Center between June 1, 2010 and May 31, 2011.
Although our long-term goal is to assure continuity of care by being open 5 days per week, 52 weeks per year, the next step is to add Monday mornings to our schedule. The Walker Foundation Challenge Grant moves us forward to serve more individuals with no other place to turn for healthcare. The longtime commitment of the Walker family to the health and wellness of residents of Northwest Arkansas is sincerely appreciated.
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In Her Own Words - A Patient's Story
"My name is Anna, and I am a patient at the Northwest Arkansas Free Health Center. I just recently finished my Masters Degree in Health Science, and I am about to go to Physician Assistant school.
A year ago my husband was laid off from his engineering job, leaving the family, including my two children, without health insurance. Thankfully, my children were able to get coverage through ARKids, but there were no programs available to my husband and me. Having finished my Master's course work, I was no longer able to use the University of Arkansas' Health Center. I work part-time, but my earnings are not enough to pay for health insurance, medical visits or prescriptions that I need, due to my illness, to be a healthy and productive mother, spouse, student, and employee.
The Northwest Arkansas Free Health Center was able to step in and provide medical care and assist me with my medications. They have made it possible for me to finish my thesis, be accepted to Physician Assistant school, and still have enough energy to focus on my children and elderly parents. The level of care provided to me was on par with, if not better than, other medical centers that I had used prior to the loss of my medical insurance. There are no words to fully express my gratitude for what the Free Health Center has given to me, and to so many other members of this community. I look forward to my future and to, hopefully, giving back with the same compassion, integrity, and respect that was so freely given to me during some very trying times. Thank you!"
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Featured Volunteer
Dr. Michael Smith, PharmD.
"I may be in the last generation to say it, but I got into pharmacy via the soda fountain."
Soda "Jerk" to Pharmacist
 "I was bagging groceries for minimum wage in the spring of my sophomore year of high school when I got a life changing opportunity. A senior at my high school offered to "pass on" her job at a local pharmacy. It was tradition at this particular drug store for the outgoing senior to tab a fresh-faced 16 year old to fill their position. I jumped at the chance to get a job that didn't involve carrying bags of groceries across a hot parking lot, and for the next 20 years I wouldn't work anywhere else but a pharmacy.
Just as the ice-cream dipping job in the soda fountain had seemed to be such an upgrade from bagging groceries, the offer to move from the greasy soda fountain to the clinically clean pharmacy counter was too good to pass up. I began working as a pharmacy clerk and developed an interest in the medications that filled the small white sacks I rang up at the old-fashioned manual cash register. After completing my undergraduate degree at the University of Arkansas, I returned to my hometown of North Little Rock and enrolled at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences College of Pharmacy in Little Rock. All through school I continued to work at Lakehill Pharmacy in North Little Rock, still occasionally dashing to the back to make a shake or flip a burger during a busy lunch rush."
Recognizing the Need
"After graduating from Pharmacy School in 1997, I began practicing pharmacy at Medical Arts Pharmacy on Huntsville Road. I was glad to be in South Fayetteville. I recognized that there were substantial needs in the area and that I was in a position to deliver needed healthcare to certain under-served patients, including many on low and fixed incomes. When I heard about the Northwest Arkansas Free Health Center, I knew that this would give me another great platform to serve patients who needed medicines, but would not otherwise have access to them. My desire to see everyone given access to healthcare and specifically medication therapies, regardless of their ability to pay, led me to seek volunteer opportunities at the Free Health Center.
In 2007, I made the shift from primarily practicing pharmacy and doing ministry work in my spare time to working in vocational ministry and practicing pharmacy when time allowed. I am currently employed as a Fayetteville Community Pastor at Fellowship Bible Church in Rogers; though I still claim Medical Arts Pharmacy and the great people who work there as friends and colleagues. For me the Free Health Center Pharmacy is a great way to continue practicing the profession I spent twenty years learning and enjoying, while serving the people to whom I originally felt called to deliver needed healthcare."
Evolution of the Health Center Pharmacy
"In the 13 years that I have been volunteering, I have seen a number of changes, all positive, at the Northwest Arkansas Free Health Center. The pharmacy, in particular, has changed dramatically. When I first began volunteering, we had no formulary (an official list of medications stocked) and no computer system. We simply dispensed what we had on hand that particular day from the somewhat haphazard collection of samples and donated drugs, many of which were on the verge of expiration. We wrote the labels by hand and had no centralized means of recording prescriptions, as a pharmacy should. We simply marked in the charts what we gave each patient.
 Since Monika Fischer-Massie took over as Executive Director of the Center, the pharmacy has improved immensely. With the help of Dr. Don Curran a computer system was installed that allowed for proper documentation and tracking of prescriptions. A formulary was developed and a regular inventory of cost-effective medications was established. The days of simply settling for the best alternative to the drug we really wanted to dispense were over, and the patients of the Northwest Arkansas Free Health Center were the beneficiaries of these improvements." On Volunteering
"Though there are many opportunities to volunteer and serve the community, I feel that the Northwest Arkansas Free Health Center Pharmacy is the best fit for me. I hope that I will have the privilege to continue to volunteer, for many years to come, alongside the many outstanding volunteers and employees that make up the Free Health Center staff."
The Free Health Center operates using volunteer physicians, dentists, pharmacists, nurses, technicians, and lay volunteers, coordinated by a small paid staff. As we continue to move toward expanded hours, more volunteers are needed. If you can help, please contact John Moores.
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Meet Jacque, Patient Advocate
"My name is Jacque, and I am the "Patient Advocate" at Northwest Arkansas Free Health Center. My job is to aid our patients in getting medications from pharmaceutical companies, serve as liaison between the Center and patients, and set up referrals to outside doctors. I am here to assist the patients in getting the extra help they need that is beyond our Health Center's walls.
Most of our patients' medications are provided for them by our Health Center or through the "$4 Plan" at some local pharmacies, but some of the medications needed are too expensive for our patients. That's where I come in. I set them up with Patient Assistance programs through the pharmaceutical companies. These programs offer the medicines at little or no cost to the patient.
If our medical professionals recommend that a patient needs to be seen by a medical specialist outside the Health Center, the patient is sent to me. I assist the patient in finding a specialist in the area who will provide care pro bono, or is willing to set up a payment plan with the patient. I try to find the most affordable way to get our patients seen, and many outside facilities are more than willing to aid in our patients' care."
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 ...providing no-cost health care to the uninsured, indigent, and working poor individuals of Northwest Arkansas A United Way member Copyright Northwest Arkansas Free Health Center . 2010 |
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