Our Staff:
We are blessed to welcome Dr. Sudhir Amaram; MD. Dr. Amaram is a board-certified Cardiologist. He will be seeing patients who need cardiac care monthly.
We are also thrilled to have Christopher Garduno work 3 days a week to assist with administrative duties at our front desk. Chris is a long-time volunteer who is bi-lingual and can assist our English and Spanish speaking patients.
We have volunteers of all ages. We wish to thank Abbie Siefert from American Heritage Girls completed her Stars and Stripes Award (the highest award in AHG) by improving Julia’s Center for Healthcare facilities. American Heritage Girls is a Christian leadership and service organization for school age children from first grade to seniors. The Diabetic Education Room was updated, the kitchen and the front storage area were reorganized, and the clinic was cleaned. During the project Abbie supervised the girls to complete the project in one weekend, and they went beyond the original scope of the project due to their enthusiasm and teamwork. They completely updated the Diabetic Education Room by painting the room, installing a cabinet to hold the diabetic supplies, installing wall cabinets to store PPE supplies, and installing brochure holders on the wall for diabetic information for the patients to take home. In addition, the volunteers reorganized the kitchen to utilize the storage space more efficiently, and they labelled the cabinets. In the front storage room, new shelves were installed that increased the storage area available. Due to the reorganization, we were able to donate excess storage furniture to Hope Restored Missions. They are a charity next door to Julia’s Center for Healthcare that helps the indigent and the homeless with their social needs. Abbie and her volunteers did a fantastic job helping us become more organized, and we are extremely grateful she chose us for her project. They are a blessing to us, and the selfless donation of their time and actions will allow our volunteers to bless our patients.
About Us:
Julia’s Center for Healthcare is a non-profit, 501(c)3 organization serving the indigent & uninsured population of Collin County. We provide basic medical care for patients that have non emergency medical problems.
Patients are seen by appointment only. There is no charge for the clinic services, however, patients may be asked for a donation, to offset costs of lab or diabetic supplies if they require them.
Julia’s Center for healthcare opened in February 2016. Currently we have 10 Providers, 8 RNs, 1 Chaplin, 1 Social Worker, and each week 2-3 administrative volunteers and 3-6 general volunteers.
Services given for the first half of the year: (Metrics thru 3rd quarter 2023)
Total in kind dollars provided- $405,314.00 These funds have been utilized for the following:
Total Patient Visits- 813
Total Diabetic Patients: 71
Diabetic Patient Visits-131
Vials of Insulin Donated to Patients: 76
Total Volunteer Hours- 3,890
Total Volunteers- 75
Labs-1,047
PAP smears-21
Radiology: including Ultrasound, CT, XRAYS, MRIs and Diagnostic studies
Flu vaccines. We received a donation of over 100 vaccines. We supported two drive-thru flu clinics as well as offering flu vaccine at our twice weekly clinics.
Eye exam- 46
Retina exam- 46
News:
Board elections were held last month. We wish to welcome all new officers and members to their new post, and thank those who have recently served.
Congratulations to our new President Jim Fini
Julia’s Clinic will be closed December 15th to beginning of January and we will see everyone in the new year. If you are a patient and need your medication refilled, please contact your pharmacy, the phone number will be on the medicine bottle and submit a refill request. Your request will be forwarded to your Provider. If you are needing low-cost urgent care contact City Bridge Urgent Care 910 West Parker Road Suite # 102, Plano TX 75075 (972) 972-8930. For urgent or life saving care call 911, or go to your nearest emergency room.
During the winter break Julia’s Clinic will be getting a face lift. We will be installing new flooring. Looking forward to seeing the upgrades!
We will also be upgrading our technology at the clinic with the purchase of another computer, and two tablets that will assist us with patient care.
Grants and donations:
We are pleased to announce that Julia’s Center for Healthcare received the Episcopal Health Foundation grant. These monies have been designated for operation expenses that will allow us provide medical care and services. (http//www. Episocopalfoundationdallas.org/grant.)
The PACC (Project Access of Collin County) grant was received for insulin/diabetes supplies, prescription cards, and lab expenses.
A grant for the purchase of insulin was provided by the Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Incorporated – Delta Alpha Alpha Zeta Chapter.
Saint Vincent de Paul provides funds for lab work for our patients.
Julia’s Center is grateful for these grants which help us fulfill our mission.
The North Texas Day of Giving was quite the success this year. We received 12,000.00 in donations with a match of 12,000. That was $24,000.00 this year. These donations will be a blessing that will continue to allow medical services to Collin Counties vulnerable population.
How can I Help:
We are always looking for bi-lingual volunteers. If you are Spanish-English speaking we would love to have you. You if have 4 hours a month that you give volunteer you would bless the many in our community who would benefit from your services.
Are you a RN, LPN, or CMA. We have a need of nurses to help run and assist in our clinics if you have a desire to help our patients, please complete an application on our web site. We will schedule you for one of our monthly orientation sessions. We will be happy to welcome you to our team of volunteers.
Community Outreach:
Julia’s Clinic is partnering with various Collin County and Dallas County charitable organizations to assist in providing coats and other warm weather clothes for the neediest in our communities. If you have a new or gently worn coat, please consider dropping it off at Julia’s Center during office hours, or scheduled clinic nights. A gift of new socks would be especially welcome. Deadline for donations is December 13th, 2023. For more information or to volunteer for this event please contact Callie Acquire, RN.
A message from our President:
It has been a privilege and an honor the have served as president of Julia’s Center for the past three plus years and to have worked with you, previous board members, volunteers, and of course, our patients.
These past three years while president have been years of unpreceded times of the world with the waxing and waning of the pandemic to the continuance of variable strains of the SARS virus. But we managed. We managed to take care of our patients during the pandemic by calling every patient who was scheduled for that week to inquire how they were doing, to refill medications, and to distribute insulin.
Most importantly, it was a time for advancing and strengthening the internal processes of the clinic to move Julia’s Center forward. In 2020, we were still doing paper charting, but on September 10th we had ATHENA in place and initiated incorporating the electronic health record. This has been a very successful and efficient change.
The introduction of technology for appointments and appointment reminders enhanced communication with the patients via calls and texting. This was made possible by the front desk personnel Rogelio, and Chris who worked as intermediates. They report that our patients “are very thankful for the service and flexibility on our behalf which facilitates their time and work schedule”. Moreover, with the addition of and ingenuity of the UT Dallas and University of Noth Texas students/volunteers, the clinic also expanded its social media presence. We already had a website in place, then added Facebook and Instagram. We went from paper scheduling of volunteers to online scheduling, as well as implementing a QR code to record volunteer hours.
The clinic’s volunteer base increased with medical assistants and scribes. A formalized volunteer orientation was established, and a Nurse Team was formed where issues were discussed and policies and procedures were developed. Additionally, grants were obtained that bolstered not only our financial base but our services to our patients for medications, labs, and teaching aids such as food and diabetic foot models.
The boldest undertaking was the FTCA/TORT. The application for the FTCA/TORT was debated, defeated, but initiated in 2021 out of the necessity to keep and attract providers. In October 2022, the initial application was filed, and the clinic was initially deemed in May 2023. In October 2023, the re-deeming application for 2024 was filed, and in November, the FTCA/TORT was awarded to Julia’s Center for 2024.
These past three years crystallized the clinic’s internal processes for advancement. The clinic is in a sound position to develop further by building on these accomplishments. In times, when there were doubts, GOD always winked at us and we prevailed.
I am thankful for all your time, efforts, talents, and tenacity in strengthening Julia’s Center for Healthcare. With that, we move forward, and I wish the incoming board and advisory board every success and many blessings.
All the best,
Barbara Devitt
Patient Information:
Are you looking for a free ESL class? Learning or expanding your ability to speak English will lead to more success living in the USA. The following are classes near Julia’s Center, however there are many in Collin County. You can locate a full list by searching COLIN COUNTY FREE ESL CLASSES NEAR ME.
Collin Adult Education & Literacy (AEL)
2000 N Central Expressway, Plano TX ((72) 349-4550
ESL & Citizenship Plano Texas
2121 Bay Hill Drive Plano (972) 867-1610
Free GED/ESL Classes for Adults
(Held at) Bowman Middle School
2501 Jupiter Road, Plano TX 75074 (469) 752-4800
Local Good Center
2201 Avenue K Suite A-200 and Suite C-100
Plano, TX 75074 (469) 366-9095
Editor’s Note:
Christmas is a time for family, joy and celebration. Hanukkah is a time for hope and light. But for many people it can be a season of darkness. Mental Heath is an often over looked health crisis in our society. Issues such of poverty, lack of family or social connections, unemployment, isolation or homelessness worsens symptoms of any existing mental health conditions. If you or any person you know of need emotional, social or crisis intervention there are free or low-cost programs in Collin County.
Lifepath Systems Plano: 972-422-5939
Lifepath McKinney-972-562-0190
City of Plano Telephone Resources:
24-Hour Mobile Crisis Line: 877-422-5939
Green Oaks Hospital, McKinney (972-548-5409
National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI-Collin County) 214-341-7133
Suicide Prevention: 972-524-4357
Please refer a homeless person to a warming shelter in event of inclement weather. The Salvation Army of Plano keeps a current list 972-423-8254
