JULY 2020

The Doctor Is In: Ascension Primary Care Clinic
to Open in the Newly Expanded CCF Center
BY SARAH KITTLE
Clockwise from top left: Expansion exterior; Clinician room; Check-in area; Doctor’s office.
In 2010, the need for health coverage
within the Chaldean community
was recognized as drastic.
Project Bismutha (the “act of healing”)
was founded by the Chaldean
American Association for Health
Professionals (CAAHP) to provide
free medical services to qualified uninsured
individuals. The Chaldean
Community Foundation (CCF)
along with Ascension (then St. John
Providence) Health System partnered
with CAAHP in 2011 to help
support and administer the initiative.
Nearly a decade later, it was recognized
that it’s no longer enough. It
was apparent this underserved community
needed more medical and
mental health services than Project
Bismutha was able to provide. More
dedicated care was needed.
Ascension, as a healthcare system
rooted in the loving ministry of Jesus
as a healer and committed to serving
with special attention to those who
are poor and vulnerable, took on that
challenge and committed to opening
and staffing a clinic within the newly
expanded CCF Center to directly
serve the Chaldean community.
The new clinic, officially called
the Ascension Macomb Oakland
Hospital — Chaldean Community
Foundation Primary Care Clinic,
scheduled to open its doors located
at 3501 15 Mile Road in Sterling
Heights on August 1, will be part of
Ascension Medical Group and will
include point-of-care labs, referrals,
testing and vaccinations, as well
as hospital resources like advanced
imaging. If hospital admission is required,
patients will be taken to Ascension
Macomb-Oakland Hospital.
Staffed with an Office Manager,
Board-Certified Family Medicine
Physician, Medical Assistant and
Front Desk Manager, the clinic will
be fully operational. There will also
be an after-hours answering pager to
help patients connect with the provider
for any concerns.
The plan for the clinic is not only
to provide medical help but also patient
education and free seminars,
although the planning is hampered
by COVID concerns. The clinic will
follow same rules and Center for Disease
Control recommendations currently
used in Ascension’s ministry.
Patients will be initially screened by
phone and in-person appointments
will be made for those who aren’t
able to benefit from virtual care.
According to Jaqueline Raxter,
MA, LMSW, LPC, “The CCF anticipates
that our expanded space
will allow for enhanced programming
in areas of integrated healthcare services
for our community.” Behavioral
health and physical healthcare will be
offered onsite for continuity of care,
as well as expanded programs to enhance
respite services for caregivers.
Opportunities to provide proactive
wellness programming for the
most vulnerable members of the
community are exciting to Raxter.
“Bilingual, professional social workers
are available to service individuals
ages 13 years of age and older,
regardless of insurance, in a private
and confidential manner as well as a
therapeutic environment for better
health and living.”
Dr. Wafa Barkho will head the
team at the clinic, being a part of
Ascension and also Chaldean. She
studied medicine at the University
of Baghdad College of Medicine.
Her heart is with the people she calls
“The Abandoned Ones.”
While indigenous to the region
of northern Iraq, Southeast Turkey,
and northeast Syria, many Chaldean
Catholics have migrated to Western
countries including the United
States and Canada due to religious
persecution, ethnic persecution,
poor economic conditions during the
sanctions against Iraq and poor security
conditions after the war in 2003.
In southeast Michigan, the Chaldean
community is estimated to be
around 160,000 - the largest concentration
outside Iraq.
“We recognize that preventative
healthcare is key,” says CCF president
Martin Manna. “If community
members can obtain well-being visits,
screenings and immunizations
here at the Foundation, at a location
they already know and trust, they
are more likely to take ownership of
their own health.”
30 CHALDEAN NEWS JULY 2020