Crucial Test for an Outpost of Healthcare in South L.A.
Crucial Test for an Outpost of Healthcare in South L.A.
Nurse practitioner Matt Tomlin steps into a small patient exam room, logs on to a computer and pulls up a formidable list of ailments for the 57-year-old woman sitting in front of him.
Hypertension. Diabetes. Congestive heart failure. Obesity. Anxiety disorder. Multiple heart attacks.
Rosemary Ricks, hunched over in a bright yellow dress, moans and describes a fall she took earlier in the week. Dropping her head in her hands, she says she can’t take the pain and needs some of her prescriptions refilled. For emphasis, she pulls a dozen medicine bottles, most empty, from her black purse.
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“Wow, you are on a little bit of everything,” Tomlin says.
After a quick exam, Tomlin steps out to call the pharmacy. “I’m pretty overwhelmed, to tell you the truth,” Tomlin says, letting out a sigh. “She’s got a lot going on.”
Nonprofit community clinics like this one in South Los Angeles are part of medical safety net created a generation ago to help fill the unmet needs of poor, uninsured and chronically ill patients in struggling rural and urban communities.