Zenaida and Yazmin in front of the St. Vincent de Paul and RotaCare Pittsburg signs. Photos by SVDP.
Launching initiative to implement electronic medical records
While celebrating the 9th Anniversary of serving uninsured residents of Contra Costa County, on Monday, Feb. 10th, RotaCare Pittsburg Free Medical Clinic at St. Vincent de Paul announces a major initiative – to update the clinic’s medical record keeping system. A successful implementation of an electronic medical record system (EMR) will allow the clinic to provide more efficient health care to the uninsured patients served, and more effectively track patients referred for surgical or specialty care. The Free Medical Clinic, located at St. Vincent de Paul’s (SVdP) Family Resource Center, 2210 Gladstone Dr. in Pittsburg, is one of the busiest Rotacare free clinics in the Bay Area, and provides no-questions asked healthcare to Contra Costa County’s most vulnerable, uninsured residents. The program serves adults with no medical insurance, providing exams, pharmaceuticals, lab tests, diagnostics, referrals, nutritional and healthy cooking classes – all at no charge.
The clinic is managed through a joint effort by SVdP and Rotacare Bay Area. Medical services are provided by volunteer doctors, nurses, interpreters, and other medical professionals. It is open every Wednesday from 4-8 PM and on the 2nd and 4th Saturdays from 8-11 AM. Since the clinic’s opening in 2011, over 13,000 patient visits have been provided to residents without insurance. Bi-lingual translation in Spanish is provided.
“What makes the clinic unique is that it is solely for the uninsured,” said longtime Medical Director Dr. Hamid Khonsari, “These are people who have no other place to go for medical care.”
A volunteer nurse serves a patient with a translator at the RotaCare Pittsburg clinic.
“We are one of the largest Rotacare Clinics in the Bay Area – and the benefits of switching to an EMR system is tremendous. One of the benefits will be the ability to share records with other Rotacare Clinics in the area using the same system, as well as giving us a better insight into our impact on our community,” Khonsari continued, “It really helps us pinpoint what we can improve on.” This information is difficult to access using paper charts.
In response to the needs of the community, the clinic evolved from its original launch as an urgent care clinic. With the continued help of their dedicated team of volunteers, the RotaCare Pittsburg Free Medical Clinic at St. Vincent de Paul added days, added volunteer providers, developed a hypertension clinic, and established asthma and diabetic follow up care. A special grant from Rotary International and local Rotary Clubs has provided funding for a pilot program, The Transitional Care Clinic, which provides intensive, on-going care for a small subset of diabetes & hypertension patients in an effort to impact their health outcomes. Now the clinic is ready to take the next step in their record keeping as well.
Financial support for the free clinic is provided from Kaiser Permanente, Los Medanos Community Healthcare District, Sutter Health, John Muir Health, City of Pittsburg/CDBG, Contra Costa County/CDBG, Keller Canyon Mitigation Fund, area Catholic Churches, local Rotary Clubs, St. Vincent de Paul and many generous individuals.
SVdP’s Family Resource Center in Pittsburg, also provides additional safety-net services. Assistance is also available through SVdP’s 29 branches throughout the county.
To learn more, visit www.svdp-cc.org, or call (925) 439-5060 or send an email to info@svdp-cc.org.
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