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Historical September 1979 opinion column by King Schoenfeld. Health-system assessments, survey figures and projected clinic expansion are contemporary attributed statements, not current medical guidance.
No doubt you’ve watched the agonizing progress of the City’s hospital consolidation with some feelings. What folks feel seems to depend on who they are. With its mix of politics, racial pride and economics, the issue is complex.
Strangely, what makes any decision about hospitals somewhat irrelevant to our well-being is the failure of modern medicine to affect our health in some ways. Of course, hospital care is great for most sick people, but doctors and hospitals really have little effect on us who are trying to keep from getting sick.
Dr. John Vavra said as much recently, according to the Post-Dispatch. ” ‘Patients get good care while they are in the hospital,’ he said, but added that after expensive and sometimes lengthy stays, they return to situations that lead right back to the hospital.”
You know what he’s talking about. I think he’s right in saying, in effect, that when patients leave the hospital where the professional healers are in control, they return to their neighborhoods where no one concerned with health is in control.
The truth in this analysis is of concern to the people of the People’s Clinic. Multiplying clinics will not directly affect the basic causes of poor health. Ill health comes from lack of the right foods, lack of good shelter (including heat, electricity and other utilities at rates we can afford), lack of employment (and/or education), bad health habits, as well as lack of self-esteem, a feeling of community and love (that is, something to live for).
If you think about it, medical care is only a small part of what keeps you and me from serious sickness. Some other factors include Laclede Gas, Union Electric, landlords, schools, churches and families.
Your neighbors who volunteer their time so that we can have a People’s Clinic have been thinking about better health care, too. For the 20,000 people who live in our area, better care may mean a good clinic facility that’s open days as well as nights, for one thing. A recent survey of 52 homes showed that 8 out of 10 would use the People’s Clinic as their main source of care, if it were open in the daytime.
To become a full-time, full-service clinic would probably mean hiring medical staff, buying new equipment and, perhaps, locating in a larger building (hopefully, without losing our relaxed, friendly atmosphere!). At this point, we are not sure that such growth is possible.
But we are all able to grow in our knowledge of how to care for ourselves. Good health care is mostly up to you and me. We turn to a doctor or other professional occasionally, of course, but most of the time we’re on our own.
The People’s Clinic sees a great future in learning together how we as neighbors can help each other stay well in a healthy community.
Originally published in The Paper, September 1979.
Read this article in the original newspaper issue.
Original source: SD_Times1979_09.pdf, printed page(s) 1; PDF page(s) 1.
