over the course, Vince more than forty five year history this regional nonprofit health care organization has been recognized as an outstanding community service by the Alfred Adler Institute and it's also been noted as a distinguished community health protection program by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Well behind these and other commendations over the decades is a call to be in service to others that originated in a small prayer group in nineteen seventy five and we'll learn more about the work of Matthew Twenty five Health and Care on this week's prime time.

>> Good evening.

I'm Bruce Haines.

With us today is April Bargello, a registered nurse on the Matthew Twenty Five health care staff and with April is Emily Olvido VA the agency's communications manager.

We thank you both for being with us.

As you can see Emily and April and was thinking from nineteen seventy five to almost twenty twenty five year well into the forty years of service and it seems the time really does kind of go by particularly with a strong grassroots idea that Matthew 25 was take me back to almost fifty years ago.

>> Sure.

So on May 1st we get to celebrate our forty sixth anniversary and when you think about downtown Fort Wayne and the seventy is our neighbor St Mary's was feeding people out of their soup kitchen and it was this tight knit group of friends who were volunteering there and they said so yes we're feeding folks but what would be the next best step?

>> And so what I love is that we were not formed by physicians or dentists or nurses.

It was this group of lay people and the goal was providing hope, dignity, prosper charity to these folks that they were feeding and so it was through health care that's the vehicle to provide those things.

And so they put together this volunteer team, started the medical clinic and a little house on Clay Street and then nineteen seventy nine they realized dental is part of this whole body health care idea.

They were ahead of their time honestly and so then they opened the dental clinic in seventy nine .

>> So what was the inspiration from Matthew.

>> Twenty five that led to the creation of Matthew twenty five it's a great verse so we're focusing on the verses where Christ is talking to his disciples and that idea that when you give somebody who's thirsty water or somebody who's naked clothing or you're visiting somebody in jail it's as if you're doing that for me .

>> And so we have a Christian heritage and we are serving through that Christian lens.

But really it's just that idea that every single person that walks through our door if we are functioning from the place of that Bible verse, it's as if there Christ and so then it really helps us hone in and focus on trying to provide again medical dental vision, mental health services all of those are the vehicle to provide dignity, hope, a future.

And so that's how we see that's our world view.

>> Right.

And so bringing people into the process is part of your role a role what what kind of experience has this been for you this is a different kind of health care.

>> It is a very different kind of health care and I've heard our volunteer providers say it's the health care that we should all be experiencing really because we're able to kind of fill that gap so those patients that don't qualify for Medicaid or don't have the income or the ability to have insurance we're meeting that need for their medical care.

>> But because it's all provided to them free of charge, we're able to order whatever labs they need, whatever procedures, tests, medications, those things that sometimes would be difficult to afford or to get from insurance we're able to provide for them so we're able to just practice medicine and this is a good way to to reference who you serve it and there will be several perceptions we can correct and this is one of them this is not homelessness, health care.

This is Alice, if you will, family health care as can be seen on the screen.

>> Yes, absolutely.

I'm sure as our phone nurse Aprils talking to folks day in and day out but just from an administrative side I can say most of our patients work.

>> They are folks who maybe they're small business owners.

Think about a gal who's a nail tech.

She's renting a booth so she's a small business owner.

That guy that owns his own business.

He's a landscaper and maybe he's got two employees.

Well, with our weather you only get to work nine months out of the year.

They can't afford that group health insurance through their job but they also can't afford to buy those marketplace plans either.

>> So April, what are you seeing when you talk to folks as far as kind of who are classic patient is yeah.

>> Our patients are you're right.

Most of them are working.

A lot of them are working two sometimes three jobs but just aren't able to qualify for that insurance and so they come to us for services.

A lot of our patients are immigrants or refugees and it may be a temporary status for them that they aren't insured or it may be long term depending on their situation but we're able to provide that health care for them as well.

I would say almost a majority of our patients are not English speaking.

It's not their native language and we have patients from a variety of different backgrounds that come to Matthew twenty five for care and they're coming from a wide geographic area too, are they not?

>> Uh, how far afield do you go from Fort Wayne like our service area so we are serving a 15 county radius northeast Indiana and then four counties in Ohio.

We don't have any kind of transportation help but if folks can get to us then will serve them.

>> Got you.

And you know in that wide swath of fifteen some counties then we know that we are blessed with strong health care service providers.

Matthew twenty five seems like it still there is still room for an important service that it alone is suited for and you're nodding your heads.

Can you help me flesh this out a little?

>> Absolutely.

Yeah.

So we do have great great health care in our region.

Absolutely.

But for the patients who don't qualify for that or aren't able to access it, we're kind of a gap fill in that way.

But honestly, I think in some ways our care is equal to sometimes even a little bit better than what they're able to access through the health networks in the area just because we have access to so many specialties and relationship with other facilities.

So we have I don't have the exact number but we have volunteer providers from just about every specialty you can imagine that come to Matthew twenty five and see patients from you know nephrology, endocrinology, cardiology.

We have gynecology.

We have a whole long list of just about every specialty and that's all accessible to these patients and then we have testing and procedures and surgeries if necessary and then all of their medications.

So those medications, especially our diabetic patients are patients with really complex diagnoses that would be on hundreds and thousands of dollars worth of medications every month that isn't even attainable for most of us sometimes they're able to get those free of charge as well through Matthew twenty five.

So it's really excellent, excellent care that we can provide and I think about this region and that there's a continuum of care options for people.

I mean we've got three fantastic hospital systems, two hospital systems, a third on its way but three different medical groups here in town we have neighborhood health who's serving on Calhoun Street and then they've got two other satellite locations.

They differ from us because they are what's called a federally qualified health care center.

The majority of their budget is coming from state and federal grants.

So they are serving people who have Medicare and Medicaid.

They are able to take certain kinds of insurance and they're putting people on sliding fee schedule.

>> And so if you think about this continuum, we really see ourselves as that safety net.

We are grabbing people who would have no other opportunity to receive health care unless they were going to an E.R.

and a cash based setting.

>> And so our goal obviously if somebody gets insurance but there's still low income we are referring to neighborhood health and then in turn if somebody gets that next great job with a great group health insurance plan, maybe they go to an ICU physician or or a Parkview physician or a Lutheran physician as their PCP and so there's just opportunities in Fort Wayne to have care if you truly have no resources but then you can work your way up or the hospital systems neighborhood health family doctors if they have a patient who has lost their job and lost their insurance, they can still come to us.

They can stay on their blood pressure meds.

They can get their rescue inhaler.

They can still see a cardiologist.

They can still see a podiatrist and so it's just a wonderful network of care in our region.

>> So this is not an either or between being a walk in clinic for acute care versus a medical provider for something that includes preventive as well as curative.

>> It's C both of the above.

>> Right, right, right.

Yeah, we do accept walk ins.

The majority of our patients are established with us.

They come to us for primary care and all their specialties and things like that but we do accept them on a walk in basis .

We do have some criteria that they have to meet one being they can't be insured and then they have to meet our income guidelines.

But as long as they've met those things then we will see them as well.

And the plan always is to get them established with a PCP whether it's with us or you know, passing them on once they're ready to move on somewhere else where we want them to get established summer.

>> But we will see them for both things and what they receive comes at no cost to the patient.

>> Right.

There's a business model like the Worth taking a moment to let sink in and the power of volunteering and the importance of donations and how does that work?

>> We cobbled together donations and volunteers and just the generosity of this community and a lot of different ways so we don't like to say free because we understand that health care is very expensive dental care is very expensive and so by being able to provide services at no cost to a patient we have volunteer specialists.

Lots of folks in the community donate medication if you have meds that you're not on anymore, they're unused, unexpired, untouched.

Those can be donated.

We don't take any government funding at all.

And so everything that we do is by the generosity of individuals and church groups and then grants from foundations to the well well over those forty five plus years being able to move from Clay Street to Jefferson and then to see the facility expand as the services expand.

The question is sort of a chicken and egg thing which came first the expanding services or the expanding building to put the services in.

>> That's a little bit of both a little bit of both I'm sure our CEO could answer this better and any one of our board members.

It's a challenge and it's a balance because we want to be able to meet the need that's in the community but then you don't want to oversee staff and have a volunteer.

>> You know, cardiologists come and twiddle thumbs and so there's always this sort of juggling act between having the services available to meet the current need.

>> I was just thinking to is the supply of services not only the ability but the demand on them to driving and and how is the demand on services are we're seeing changes in age I understand like 40 plus 40 to 60 is an expanding group where 18 plus is usually the minimum.

>> What else are you noting?

Yeah, definitely a lot of that kind of older population we're living longer and we're being healthier.

We're living healthy lives longer but still with chronic conditions things like diabetes, hypertension, things like that.

So we're seeing a lot of those things as well and then some of the population that we serve, they are a little bit more predisposed to some of those chronic illnesses.

So we see like I said, a lot of diabetes, a lot of hypertension, things like that that probably the majority of our patients have one of those diagnoses go if you're just joining us, we are visiting tonight with two members from Matthew Twenty five health care Emily Olvido course communications manager and April Bargello is a registered nurse there on the Matthew Twenty five staff.

So much to share that to bring you up to date we can do it through visuals and a wonderful ,wonderful piece that was produced about the agency Matthew twenty five let's take a look.

Because of Matthew 25 I feel blessed because of Matthew 25 I feel like I have my self back and I'm even better than I was before because of my duty.

And if I if I was able to continue with my life because of Matthew twenty five I feel like a person and not and no matter my children fighting has been a blessing for us at Matthew 25 Health and Care our patients come to us from all walks of life with diverse backgrounds and beliefs.

>> But no matter what Brotherman or what lies ahead they are all uncomfortable, uninsured and unable to access the medical care they need for these patients we are a beacon of light a break in the clouds, a safety so we open our hearts as wide as our doors and care for every patient with compassion, dignity and respect.

At Matthew 25 our patients receive high quality specialized medical, dental vision and mental health services.

Our volunteer staff includes some of our communities most experienced, knowledgeable physicians and practitioners.

We use advanced techniques and procedures.

We offer preventative screenings and wellness classes and we combine our resources to heal the whole person mind, body, spirit and soul.

Most importantly, we do it all at no cost to our patients relying solely on support from volunteers, donors, grants and sponsors.

There are other places in our community where patients can see a doctor refill a prescription or get a diagnose us.

But only Matthew, 25, transforms lives by healing with a hands and heart of Christ and asks nothing in return because at Matthew 25 compassion is in the air we breathe and the words we speak it's in every set of vitals we take.

It's administer it along with every prescription we give and it's the single most important part of every patient care plan at Matthew twenty five I am called to care Matthew twenty five to when we need dinner me propose metropolitan Matteo Renzi Sinco Servery Comunidad at Matthew twenty five I am called to show compassion at Matthew 25 I'm called to serve at Matthew 25 I am called to help .

There have been a number of moments of growth and service expansion for Matthew.

Twenty five used to be called of course Health and dental clinic.

Now it is called Matthew Twenty five Health and Care not health care and I wanted to ask you both about the power of the word and yeah absolutely.

So obviously we are called to provide health care to our patients but the care that we provide we really seek to make it care of the whole person so we you know, we assess their emotional needs, their physical needs, their spiritual needs because we serve an underserved population.

A lot of times there are additional needs beyond their medical needs.

So housing and security, transportation issues, you know, depending on where they've come from or what their background is, there can be passive of trauma or or things like that.

>> And we want to make sure that we're not just addressing the medical needs in front of us but we're addressing the whole person and our staff spends a lot of time talking to our patients and assessing those needs and then going the extra mile to find the resources to connect them with the the services in Fort Wayne that can be helpful in Fort Wayne is amazing.

The number of resources that we have we're spoiled for choice and a lot of ways but it's hard to navigate that particularly if you are working two jobs or English isn't your first language or something like that.

And so we really try to address all of those things with our patients.

>> How about two thousand twenty uh, what does a medical care provider that works in such a specific way deal with something that was just so generally invasive with covid?

Yeah, What was that like?

>> Let me ask you first April.

It was definitely a challenge.

It continues to be a challenge.

It's I mean it changed the landscape for medicine and a lot of ways we were closed for a time and then reopened with some restrictions and we've kind of like everyone had to make adjustments as we've gone along.

>> We are almost up to full functioning again now.

So we're seeing full numbers of patients if needed.

Our patients can bring their children in for appointments which was a hardship a little bit for all of us during covid we were close to children were able to just do a little bit more and even some of the places that we refer out who are able to accept more patients now so we're having an easier time getting things scheduled but it's been a challenge for us as well as everyone else in the service delivery.

>> From your perspective?

Well, internally it was very interesting because it was all hands on deck.

So as a marketing social media type person I was needed I was needed on the floor and so we all took turns working the front desk wearing the gown in ninety five mask and I learned how to take temperatures and do the survey and so we all kind of had to rotate into other positions which helped us appreciate our coworkers as professionals and understand better what everybody was doing to manage the disease.

Um so that was neat but I can say one silver lining is that it got people talking about community health .

It got people talking about the fact that the person in line in front of you and in the checkout aisle affects your health .

The person's standing next to you in the bank affects your health and so we've actually seen an increase in donations.

We've seen an expansion of the number of donors because again there's this conversation that the health care of each individual and our community affects our community as a whole and what kind of a place do we want to live?

>> And people started asking those kinds of questions.

Yeah, I happened to notice a little something from the National Association of Free and Charitable Clinics.

They had said that a common misperception after the full implementation of the Affordable Care Act was that there would soon then be no need for free and charitable clinics to provide people with charity care.

But even after full implementation of ACA there are as many as 27 million persons who are still without access to health insurance.

>> Yeah, yes.

So imagine you've got a great job with great insurance plan.

You lose your job, you get another great job.

>> However, Bruce , you might have a three month waiting period before you can get on the insurance with your new employer.

So there's an example of somebody who we wouldn't think as needing any kind of charitable care.

But if you're on a blood pressure med and a rescue inhaler and a thyroid medication to pay for those out of pocket, it's almost impossible for any family budget.

And so I think that the need for a free clinic will always be with us.

>> There will always be those outlier situations but then there will always be people who just don't fit in a box.

>> Yeah, you know, they go absolutely it's always going to be a need unfortunately I wish it wasn't the case but yeah.

>> And like I said, some of our population are immigrants or refugees and they're kind of in that status where they're not able to get Medicaid or insurance and those those that population is always going to be with us as well.

>> So yeah.

Yeah.

And for somebody who's here legally they've got their papers, they maybe have an anchor family member and they're working you have to be in the United States working and turning in taxes for five years before you can get on Medicaid.

So again if you think about that person getting an ear infection to go to the E.R.

and pay cash for an ear infection and then pay cash for antibiotics, it actually makes health care more expensive for all of us because if they don't pay their bill, guess who that's right.

>> There you go.

Yeah, and with fourteen hundred free and charitable clinics in the United States alone and to know that Matthew twenty five helping care is one of the largest in the country that's quite an accolade going into year forty six and and beyond.

What are your thoughts looking ahead to year forty seven and you each have thirty seconds to tell me.

Well my hope is that we continue to meet the needs of our of our community that we stay stay on in the mission that we've been living out for almost fifty years now.

Absolutely.

I think there's a lot of talk of education.

I would love to see us expand some of our education opportunities.

There are a lot of other agencies that have wonderful like farm to table type classes where you're learning healthy cooking.

There's a lot of neat partnerships in town that I think we can make in the future to provide those that kind of health education to our patients.

>> And if you would like to see how the progress goes on that and so much that is happening with Matthew.

Twenty five health care there is contact information right on your screen.

Any search engine will get you there as well.

But you can see Matthew twenty five online dot org and four to six thirty two fifty the phone number we have been enjoying this conversation.

Thank you so much Emily Olvido of ours.

The communications manager April Makalu registered nurse both with Matthew twenty five health and care continued success and for all of us with prime time, I'm Bruce Haines.

>> Thank you for watching and allowing us to be a part of your evening.

Take care.

We'll see you back here next week.

Good .