Coweta Samaritan Clinic: Meeting a Community Challenge

Written and Photographed by NEIL MONROE

Dr. Kay Crosby is founder, chairman and volunteer medical director at Coweta Samaritan Clinic where she routinely sees patients while providing leadership to the team of doctors, nurses, assistants and volunteers who make the clinic’s services possible for Coweta residents in need.

In 2009, Dr. Kay Crosby had practiced medicine in Coweta County for more than 20 years and was ready for a new chapter in her life.

She didn’t exactly know what that chapter was going to be, but as Crosby will quickly tell you, God did.

Inspired by the needs of disadvantaged Coweta residents whom she encountered at a health fair her church hosted, she began work to create a medical facility that would meet the needs of those residents. The result of her work is the Coweta Samaritan Clinic, a thriving nonprofit medical facility that has proven to be a blessing for Coweta County and for thousands of Coweta residents with little or no access to health care.

“God’s been preparing me for this responsibility all my life,” says Crosby. “When I started this work, I was very quickly joined by many talented, motivated people who made this possible. There was clearly a need, and I’m very thankful for the help of so many people who made this happen.”

Among those people was Lou Graner, an experienced healthcare executive who served as the clinic’s executive director until his retirement in 2020.

“We had a meeting around Kay’s kitchen table,” Graner recalls. “It was myself, Sharon Gruber, Val Cranford and Kay. We talked about it, thought through it, and realized there was a need. That’s when the real work started.”

Both Cranford and Gruber remain on the clinic’s emeritus board.

After two years of planning and preparation, the clinic welcomed its first patients in 2011, utilizing space vacated by the Coweta County Health Department when it moved to a new facility on Hospital Road. The space was perfect, but there were challenges in addressing the complexity of health issues patients presented.

“Early on, we didn’t have the resources to help in many cases,” says Crosby. “But with the help of our volunteers and staff, we found a way, building our capabilities step by step.”

One of the first volunteers to help at Coweta Samaritan Clinic was nurse practitioner Rhonda Whitton. She worked in the clinic from its first day through autumn 2022 – for five years as a volunteer and then as a paid employee. She expresses deep appreciation for her experience.

“I was a bit sheltered back then,” says Whitton. “I honestly didn’t realize the depth of the need within our community. People were sick and hadn’t had care. When we started, we didn’t have the infrastructure, but we worked so hard to always find a way. It’s been a wonderful experience, and I’m thankful to have been a part of it.”

The clinic offers a range of services to patients in-house, including blood work. Here, phlebotomist Brett Hunton serves patient Ronnie Jordan.

Kelly Hines succeeded Graner as executive director in 2020 and says the clinic now provides a full range of medical services to its patients, from cardiology to orthopedics, gynecology to podiatry, and basic dental services.

In addition, the clinic helps patients with societal or economic issues that complicate medical problems. Through its Patient Assistance Program (PAP), it also works to secure needed medications from manufacturers at no cost to the patient.

“Thanks to the generosity and support of the community, we now have access to help for nearly any illness that a patient may present,” says Hines. “We have doctors who volunteer and see patients here, and we have very supportive partners who enable us to meet the needs of our patients.”

In addition to individual physicians who volunteer their time, key partners of the clinic include Piedmont Newnan Hospital for lab services, surgery, and radiology; Cancer Treatment Centers of America for oncology care; and American Health Imaging and Outpatient Imaging for radiology services.

Patient numbers have grown steadily since the clinic’s opening in 2011. In total, the clinic has provided services to more than 2,800 unique patients with more than 23,000 patient visits. In 2021 alone, the clinic provided care to 558 patients who made more than 3,400 visits to the clinic facilities.

The PAP program, led by PAP Program Coordinator Raquel Hanna, provided medications with an estimated wholesale value of nearly $2.4 million last year.

Hines notes that the clinic is not a walk-in facility. Each patient meets specific requirements and is screened by staff before being accepted as a patient. 

To be served as a patient at Good Samaritan Clinic, the patient must:

• be 19 or older,

• be a Coweta resident,

• have no medical insurance, and

• have a household income at or below 200% of the federal poverty level.

“These criteria help make sure we’re taking care of those who truly have no other options,” says Hines. “It’s important to have the ability to meet the needs of patients who have sudden or unique needs.”

The COVID-19 crisis created a unique set of challenges for the clinic, according to Hines, who recalls that after an initial switch to telemedicine, the clinic resumed in-office appointments in June 2020 and began accepting new patients in August.

Importantly, the clinic remains nearly fully funded by private donations. It has an annual operating budget of $840,000 with more than 95% of clinic expenses used to support direct patient care.

In turn, the clinic generates an overall economic value of more than $5 million, all directed toward Coweta residents in need.

“Break-even is the goal,” says Hines. “We were challenged by COVID, but we’ve made it through. We now have a strong foundation, and we’re confident we’re going to find new and better ways to help going forward.” NCM