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Home  / News & Publications /  Michigan Catholic News / 2010 /  Health help starts for those in 48217

by Robert Delaney of The Michigan Catholic
Published April 23, 2010

Robert Delaney | The Michigan Catholic Fr. Ed Zaorski, pastor of SS. Andrew & Benedict Parish (second from left), confers with WSU faculty members (from left) Suzy Schmeltz, Mary Oriold Dereski and Stephanie Gilkey at the April 14 grand opening of the university's free clinic.

DETROIT –Detroit 48217, an entire ZIP code without a single primary care physician, now has a free clinic where residents can go for basic health screenings and referrals, thanks to the cooperation of Wayne State University and SS. Andrew & Benedict Parish.

"This is wonderful, to make this available for people who live here. A lot of people who live around here don't have a doctor," said Bessie Kelley, 78, who lives several blocks from the parish.

Kelley was among local residents attending the April 14 grand opening celebration for the WSU Health Education for Longevity and Prevention Clinic in the annex building of the parish, on South Beatrice at Hall Street in the Fort Street-Schaeffer Road area of southwest Detroit.

Robert Delaney | The Michigan Catholic Physician assistant student Julie Baranowski checks the blood pressure of Bessie Kelley at the April 14 grand opening of the WSU HELP Clinic at SS. Andrew & Benedict Parish.

The HELP Clinic, which will be staffed by WSU physician assistant students supervised by faculty members, will be open twice a month through the summer, then once a week beginning in September.

Kelley said she is fortunate, as a General Motors Corp. retiree, to have health insurance, but added that many in the area do not.

Julie Baranowski, a first-year physician assistant student at WSU, said she is excited about the clinic: "It not only gives us practice working with patients, but we get to impact the lives of people who might not otherwise have services."

Robert Schafer, also a first-year physician assistant student, said the clinic is "a great opportunity for us to give back to the community, and also to learn at the same time."

"It gives us a chance to get out of the classroom and work with real people," he added.

Stephanie Gilkey, director of WSU's Physician Assistant Program, said about 45 students will be involved with the clinic at any one time. They will perform blood pressure, cholesterol and glucose testing, as well as evaluating patients' body mass index, so they can give advice regarding diet and lifestyle changes, as well as making referrals to other healthcare providers.

The services of the clinic are free, Gilkey continued, and she added that patients without health insurance can be helped to receive further care through an organization called the Voices of Detroit Initiative.

"My hope is that it serves the community in a way it hasn't been served before, and that they learn to rely on the services of the clinic, and that we are able to learn from the community and do research that will benefit the community," she said.

Wayne State's Institute of Environmental Health Sciences had already been considering doing something in the neighborhood when a chance meeting about a year ago brought Mary Oriold Dereski, Ph.D., an associate professor, together with Fr. Edward Zaorski, pastor of SS. Andrew & Benedict Parish.

The institute had been in contact with some residents of the community, and there was interest in looking how living in such close proximity to some of the most concentrated heavy industry in the country had affected the health of the community. The neighborhood is the part of Detroit closest to the complex of industrial plants along the Rouge River. "I was having dinner with a friend of mine at Vince's Restaurant on Springwells, and my friend introduced me to Fr. Ed, who was also there," Dereski recalled.

When she learned Fr. Zaorski was pastor of a parish in 48217, she told him of the university's desire to do something to benefit the health care of the area's residents and learn about the health effects of both its airborne industrial pollution and ground contamination.

Fr. Zaorski recalled that, at that first meeting with Dereski, "I told her, 'Well, if you've got the resources, I've got the place," offering to house the program.

"SS. Andrew & Benedict has always been an anchor for the community, even though the majority of the people in the area are not Catholic. The clinic is a way for us to reach out to the community, and to help people get healthy or stay healthy," he said. Dereski said, "Having a community partner like SS. Andrew & Benedict is really a great benefit for us."

She worked with Gilkey and a health fair was held at the parish in late October. Information gathered at that event confirmed the need for a clinic, Dereski said.

The population of the area is about 85 percent African-American, and includes a higher-than-average percentage of senior citizens, she explained. And, because it is a relatively stable population, it offers the opportunity to study the effects of long exposure to pollution, Dereski added.

She said concerns include the possibility of a higher incidence of decreased lung function and cancer in the area.

Besides the health screening tests that will be a regular feature of the clinic, the grand opening also included information booths from a number of local health and social services agencies.

Former Detroit Lions linebacker Ernie Clark was there to lead a chair exercise class, which shows even elderly and disabled people how they can do beneficial exercises while seated in a chair.

Although that won't be a part of the regular clinic sessions, Clark conducts the class following the parish's regular 10 a.m. healing Mass, the first Saturday each month.

"We call it healing for the body and the soul," Fr. Zaorski said.