common thread

“We wanted to give thiscommunity a little new hope,”says Julia, an advanced registerednurse practitioner. “InOwingsville alone, there is a23 percent poverty rate. Wecurrently have 2,000 patients;some walk an hour to see us,others hitchhike. We’ve hadpeople drop at our front doorhaving an MI (myocardialinfarction).”The uninsured are oftenseriously ill because they havenot received preventive caredue to the barrier of expensivemedical fees, according toJulia. “The average lifespan ofsomeone who is uninsured is58 years. The average lifespanfor the rest of us is somewherein our 70s,” she says.Julia became concernedabout the lack of health careamong the hard-workingpoor during her days workingwith the East Coast MigrantHealth Project, which provideshealth prevention and clinicaloutreach services to farmworkers and migrant laborersalong the Eastern Seaboard.As she advanced in her nursingpractice, her concern grewinto a strong advocacy forthe uninsured. A city girl herwhole life, born and raisedin Louisville and educatedat Vanderbilt University inNashville, Julia decided tomove to the countryto practice.“It was just in my bones,”says Julia. “I also loved ruralpractice because I could get toknow my patients, see themoften and hear their stories.If you know someone’s story,there is no one that youcouldn’t love.”Julia, who resides in Means,Kentucky with her husbandand two children, begancommuting to Lexington in1998 to work on Saint Joseph’sMobile Clinic. With dreams ofopening her own free healthclinic near her home in MenifeeCounty, she wanted to gainmore experience with treatingthe poor and uninsured.“That was the whole reasonI came to St. Joe. If we couldreally figure out a way to carefor the uninsured, I wanted tobring it home,” recalls Julia,who works in the Saint JosephFree Health Clinic in Lexingtonwhen not in Owingsville (theMobile Clinic parked its wheelsin 2007 and a free-standinghealth clinic opened to servethe same uninsured andunderinsured population inLexington).Julia did bring her newfoundknowledge home and inOctober of 2000, opened thedoors of the NewHope Clinicthrough the support of theOwingsville community.Partnering with her deacon atSt. Julie’s Catholic Church (whohappened to be a physicianassistant) and a planner for thedistrict’s health department,NewHope Ministries became aContinued on page 13“If you know someone’sstory, there is no one thatyou couldn’t love.”7