When most people think of receiving adequate health care, they tend to only think of maintaining their physical health. Esperanza Health Center takes it one step further and focuses on more than just the physical aspect of health care by taking into consideration the emotional and spiritual well-being of its patients.
Esperanza Health Center is a faith-based, bilingual community health center in North Philadelphia that was founded in 1989 by Dr. Carolyn Klaus. Two years ago, Esperanza’s main office relocated to the heart of Kensington in close proximity to the El station at Kensington and Allegheny avenues.
“It was through prayer and a lot of circumstances that she became more and more aware of the health care need of the low income community, primarily in North Philadelphia,” says Ted Voboril, director of development.
According to the 2000 U.S. Census, 55 percent of Kensington residents are Hispanic and 49 percent of the total population is below poverty level. Most of the health care services being provided by Esperanza are towards Latinos and under-served communities in Kensington. According to Voboril, approximately 70 percent of all patients receive Medicaid. Everyone on the clinical staff speaks both English and Spanish to accommodate the large number of Spanish-speaking residents.
According to Esperanza’s Web site, over 6,000 patients are served through more than 24,000 annual medical visits. Esperanza also serves about 175 HIV adult patients. There is HIV testing, counseling and medical treatment services. Primary health care services are offered for patients of all ages including: family practice medicine, internal medicine, pediatrics, dental services, gynecological services, medication dispensary, adult and pediatric preventive services, nutritional counseling and social services.
“Our doctors are committed to helping their patients thrive and really meeting their needs,” says Voboril.
Maria Delgado has been going to Esperanza for over a year along with her children. Delgado has diabetes and comes to Esperanza for her physicals and diabetes appointments. Her other family members attend Esperanza’s second location on North Fifth Street. A follower of the Christian faith, Delgado credits Esperanza’s Christian background as the main reason she chooses to go there.
“It’s a good place to be at,” Delgado admits. “They do follow up, they do call you, they do remind you.”
In addition to all of its services, Esperanza sets itself apart from other health care centers in the area by offering spiritual care and mental health counseling. If there is certain anxiety or stress in the patient’s life, counselors are available on the floor when patients come in to speak or pray with them.
“Our counselors are equipped to speak with them about the spiritual aspect of their lives and how that may play into their health,” says Susan Post, the executive director at Esperanza.
“It’s about relational, spiritual, physical and emotional wholeness,” says Post. “When we approach health care, we’re trying to approach it from all those angles.”
Esperanza gains much of its exposure throughout the community through word-of-mouth interactions via patients to their family and friends. Other promotional services include health lectures and health education in the community. These lectures serve as ways to help people in the community realize the importance of being connected with a primary care physician.
“I like to call it a primary care home,” says Post. “A place where they know they can come to if anything at all is wrong.”
Dr. Bryan Hollinger, the medical director at Esperanza, has been working there since 1994. Hollinger began working as a doctor right out of training and he recalls that there were only about 15 people on staff when he started. He spent his first six years doing patient care and gradually got involved with quality assurance.
“I was interested in serving cross culturally,” Hollinger says. “I also wanted to learn how to apply the faith I grew up with in practice with my patients.”
According to Hollinger, hypertension and cardiovascular disease tie into the growing problem of diabetes and obesity and they are equally as prevalent.
“In poor communities, diets are usually high in sodium and fat,” says Hollinger. “African-Americans and Latinos are already predisposed genetically to diabetes so when you add to that a sub-optimal diet, it’s a rough combination.”
Another critical health care concern is the significant amount of people addicted to drugs and alcohol.
“The addiction problem itself is pretty huge,” says Hollinger. “But I think those are secondary problems in the community related to poor education, fatherless families, lack of vision and lack of job opportunities.”
Esperanza offers some counseling on location for those suffering from addiction. The health center also partners with drug treatment programs and residential 28-day rehabiliatation centers.
“Our goal is to see people get better,” says Hollinger. “We want to set the bar high for people and actually have improvements for health instead of sustain them over time.”
Hollinger believes that more health care centers need to adopt the philosophy of truly helping people get better as opposed to a damage control philosophy where health care is often thought to be sufficient as long as the patient is taking medication. He refers to this treatment as “maintenance mode” and he believes that it is time to move beyond that in order to provide genuine, quality health care.
“Our Christian beliefs drive the way we’re concerned about our patients,” says Post. “We see our patients the way we believe God sees them; having created them with dignity and a need for wholeness in life,” says Post.
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