Patient Profiles

Joyce, First Alliance Patient
Excerpt from Alliance Medical Ministry Newsletter, Spring 2006
As Alliance recently celebrated its third anniversary of clinical operations, [Dr. Susan Weaver] reflected on all the changes since the clinic doors opened on January 6, 2003.

I remember the first patient I saw the first day we opened. Joyce was a hard-working woman with a long history of asthma. For years, she received no regular medical care. Joyce went to the emergency room when she was too sick to work, amassing thousands of dollars of bills on her credit cards. Only rarely was Joyce able to afford the many prescription medications that would have kept her out of the emergency rooms. When she first came to Alliance, we had a staff of 4 and a handful of volunteers. She received the finest medical care available, and has not been back to the emergency room since establishing her care at Alliance. Joyce has missed fewer days of work and is not adding more medical bills to her credit card. This amazing service is available to patients like Joyce due to the commitment of our supporters.

Annie, Katrina Clinic Patient
Excerpt from Alliance Medical Ministry Newsletter, Holiday 2005
Annie is a patient seen by a volunteer doctor the first week of the Katrina Clinic. Annie had health insurance, but found herself displaced to Raleigh after the evacuations in New Orleans. She was in a city she had never visited, without transportation, and separated from all her children and grandchildren. Annie didn't need a lot of medical care. Her chronic medical problems were stable, but she needed minor adjustments in her medications and a way to refill those medications for the next month. The Katrina Clinic provided those things for her. Although she was fortunate to have health insurance, finding a provider in a new city without transportation is a daunting task.

Excerpt from Alliance Medical Ministry Newsletter, Summer 2005
This summer [Dr. Susan Weaver] was again reminded of the wonderful impact Alliance Medical Ministry has on the lives of our patients. I wasn't reminded by a patient, but by a fully insured friend of mine. This friend shared with me the harrowing story of recent health problems of her spouse. Originally, the family was told it might be cancer. After several weeks of tests and an extremely difficult waiting period, they learned that indeed the problem was cancer. Thankfully, the cancer was found very early and is in a potentially curable phase. This friend expressed to me her gratitude to her husband's doctors and the wonderful care he received. She also recognized the importance of the routine screening procedures that found the cancer early. We then discussed how the cost of the previous few weeks would have been impossible for this family without their health insurance.

In a recent survey of AMM patients:

100% of patients experienced improvement in overall health since establishing medical care at AMM.

63% of patients rated their health as markedly improved.

71% had at least one visit to the ER prior to becoming an AMM patient.

86% had a reduction in Emergency Room visits.

The cost per patient visit has decreased from 2003 - 2005.