Quarter Three Newsletter

Greetings from the editor!

“Oh, the weather outside is frightful, but the fire is so delightful, and since we’ve no place to go let it snow, let it, snow, let it snow”. We don’t get much snow but we all get excited when the holidays come around. Who doesn’t love the smell of pine, peppermint and ginger bread. Christmas carols, Hallmark station holiday movies, lights and decorations and all that food! This time of year, when Peace on Earth, and good will to men seems possible. We at Julia’s wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving, Joyous Christmas or Hannukah, and a blessed 2025.

Attention!!! Our website address has changed!

About Us:

Julia’s Center for Healthcare Earned a 2024 Gold Rating from the National Association of Free and Charitable Clinics (NAFC) Quality Standards Program by self-attesting that the organization has policies and procedures in place that underscores its mission and commitment to provide quality care to the uninsured adult residents of Collin County.

Julia’s is also a member in good standing of the Texas Association of Charitable Clinics and the Collin County Coalition of Charitable Clinics.

Our Mission: To reflect God’s love by providing quality healthcare, education, and advocacy with dignity and compassion to the residents of Collin County who are uninsured or underserved.

Reminder: Julia’s Center follows the Plano ISD schedule for closures in the event of inclement weather. Holiday closures are planned in advance and are listed on our website.

Clinic Closures:

Thursday November 28, 2024 Thanksgiving

December 20, 2024 through January 1, 2025 Winter Holiday Break

Services provided from January 1, 2024 through September 30, 2024:

Total Volunteers: 86
Volunteer Hours: 5,510
Total Patient Visits: 1,117
New Patient Visits: 82
Diabetic Patient Visits: 83
Vials of Insulin provided: 140
Labs provided: 1,784
EKGs: 15
PAP smears: 20
Radiology to include: 4 Xray’s, 1 CT, 10 Ultrasounds, and 25 Mammograms
Optical Exams: 69
Retinal Exams/Injections: 13
Glasses are distributed from Dr. De La Fuente’s office.

These services are free to our patients and represent a healthcare cost savings of $607,029.00.

Thank you!

We want to thank everyone who donated via North Texas Giving Day (NTGD) and the Donor Appreciation Event. This is our major fundraiser of the year, and because of all of your generous donations as well as a donor match, we received over 30,000 dollars! For those of you who are unaware of the wonderful (NTGD) charity let me share a little bit about it. This is an annual event in which over 5,000 local non-profit charities receive fundraising support. Last year it raised more than 63.9 million dollars; in addition to its individual donations each charity receives a percentage of the total contributions. If you want to learn more about NTGD, please visit their website at www.Northtexasgivingday.org.

This year, we celebrated “You” by combining our donor appreciation event with a clinic “house warming” in our new clinical space on September 6^th. We acknowledged our patients, medical, nursing, and non-clinical volunteers for their gifts of time and talent’s which enables us to provide healthcare to our patients. We also recognized and honored our 20-year plus veteran volunteers by gifting them with a 20-year lapel pin to commemorate all they have done over the years. Everyone enjoyed wonderful refreshments, and a tour of our new space. If you missed this event, and would like to tour our new space, just swing by any Tuesday or Thursday clinic night from 4:30- 8pm. and one of our staff members will give you a tour. Contact Jim Fini or Mary Lee at the clinic for more information, (972) 535-5099.

Congratulation to our 20 years plus volunteers:

We have an amazing group of volunteers, several of whom have been with Julia from the beginning and stayed through the trials and triumphs. The following volunteer heroes have served faithfully for 20-25 years, and are still with us today: Jhonnatan Garduno PA., Chris Garduno, Rao Vemula MD., Barbara Dawson RN., Barbara Devitt RN., Mary Ann Lee BSN., Carol Hasty RN., Sally Hurd RN., Sharon Hewett RN., Kathryn Branch NP., Christina Doyle, Alicia Harris, and Maria Teresa Ugarte. Many Thanks!!!

A special thanks! To the Baylor, Scott and White medical system and Volunteers in Medicine for their grant to procure a new computerized manikin for CPR training, plus the 100 doses of flu vaccine. They have been faithful for several years in donating this important vaccine. It’s the only vaccine that we provide, and it protects our patients from “the flu” or a secondary infection such as sepsis or pneumonia. We will administer flu shots upon request during clinic nights until we run out of vaccine. For further information please contact our community service lead Callie Acquaye at the clinic, (972) 535-5099.

What’s New!

New Faces: Welcome to all of our new volunteers!

Nancy RN, and Dianne RN.; Shvetanshu, Sara, Jalini, Sarah, Rahma, Madhav, Salman, Syed, Prabhleen, Sana, Sydnie, Saloman and Jessica, will serve as CMAs, Translators or Scribes.

We’re excited to begin a partnership with West Coast University to host a new 1^st or 2^nd year PA student for 5-week intervals during each semester. The students will volunteer as translators, scribes, or medical assistants to complete their clinical rotation hours. They may also assist with organizational projects such as data collection, and/or IT. In addition, we have accepted 2 teams of WCU students to participate in Capstone projects beginning in the 4^th Quarter.

We’ve Moved! We moved from suite A400 to suite A100 in the same building, and our new clinic space is great! We have larger exam rooms and more of them. We have a dedicated Ophthalmology and Optometry room, we added a conference room, a patient education room, training room, and a spacious waiting room. We’re currently working to improve our technology and communication system to assist in patient check in and scheduling. We’ve installed additional monitors in the training and waiting room for educational and patient focused videos. The goal in developing these video tools is to enable our patients to better navigate the clinic and the healthcare system. A welcome video on the “How-To’s” containing patient responsibilities and available services is in the works at this juncture.

Provider Specialties Include: We currently provide services in Family Medicine, Neurology, Cardiology, Optometry, Ophthalmology, Endocrinology, Gastroenterology, and Geriatrics. We conduct Diabetes Clinic, Foot care, and Diabetic Education monthly. The Women’s Health Clinic for non-OB issues, screens for cervical cancer every 4^th Tuesday. THR offers our patients mobile mammogram services, and we try to schedule them quarterly. Retinal examinations are done by an Ophthalmologist, and Eye exams with the distribution and fitting of glasses are provided by our Optometrist.

TECH News: We’re currently working to improve the efficiency of the registration and check out process. Computers and scribes have been added to assist in patient management, and electronic medical records. If they choose, patients may register on our “patient portal” to access their labs, current medications, check on upcoming appointments, review radiology reports, request refills, as well as communicate with the clinic through e-mail. Patients who provide phone numbers may receive a text to remind them of appointments, and or schedule changes. The administrative team can also forward questions or concerns directly to a provider to answer questions or obtain required information.

Holiday Party: Our annual holiday party will be Saturday December the 7^th, 3pm-6pm. Sign up for the clinic “pot-luck” and bring your best holiday treat. Beverages and a meat entree will be provided by the clinic. The link to sign up for your attendance and your holiday food item is: https://signup.zone/Xf26hPPE9Co2FAroK

Contact Jim Fini for further information. (972) 535-5099.

How you can Help:

Immediate Need: We have an urgent need for volunteer bi-lingual Translators and Spanish speaking medical scribes. If you are a Spanish-English speaking individual WE NEED YOU NOW! If you have 4 hours a month to serve, you would be a blessing to us and to the many in our community who need your help. Contact Barbara Dawson. (972) 535-5099.

We also need a non-medical, non-technical volunteer, 18 years or older, who is willing to commit for a minimum of 6-months. He/she must be reliable, have transportation, and available Tuesdays and Thursday evenings from 5-9 pm. They must also be able to read and follow verbal instructions in English. Good organizational skills are a plus. For more information contact: Mary Lee, (972) 535-5099.

We’d welcome IT Support. Informational Systems volunteers skilled in software systems, WEB Design, data analysis (EXCEL), video development, support to assist with Integration of communication systems such as the EMR portal, and Cloud/EMR/records support. Contact: Jim Fini, (972)535-5099.

We always need the following volunteers: Social Workers, and other allied health professionals. Providers: MD’s, DO’s, PA’s, NP’s

Nurses: RN’s, LPN’s

We have a real need for a Diabetic Foot Nurse, and a Certified Diabetic Educator. We’re also looking to expand our prayer ministry and welcome clergy and members of the faith community to volunteer. Interested parties please go to our website www.juliascenter.org. There is a link to apply to volunteer, plus other pertinent information. Prayer ministers contact: John Reglin (972) 535-5099.

Community Outreach: with the holiday season upon us, we have opportunities for people to volunteer at events that our volunteers participate in. For example, helping the homeless, food drives, and distributing gifts. Contact: Callie Acquaye, (972) 535-5099.

TORT/Grant/QA-QI team members. Thanks to the efforts of the TORT team, we acquired federal TORT coverage that enables our providers, nurses, and staff to work without the worry of malpractice issues. We’re also in the process of improving our Quality Assurance Program to ensure that best practices are utilized by all providers, and staff today, and every day in the future at Julia’s Center. QA is an ongoing requirement. If you have time and talents in this area contact: Jim Fini, (972) 535-5099.

VIDEO/WEB Design and production: Patient education videos will be in English and Spanish. We hope to include information on options for care in other charity clinics, social services, ESL classes, and mental health. If you are skilled in videography please contact. Mary Lee (972) 535-5099.

Diabetic Education: We’re also looking to form a Diabetic Support Group. Management of this chronic and multi-facetted illness can be stressful and challenging for both the patient and provider. Having a group of peers led by a Physician, Diabetic Educator, and other allied health professional such as a Nutritionist will help this population cope with their illness and bring them to goal.

To Donate: If you’re looking for a unique way to donate to Julia’s Center during the holidays, you may want to consider a gift in remembrance of the passing of a family member or friend. You may also donate to celebrate a special birthday for that person who has everything. Your generous donation may save a life, and at the very least will enable Julia’s to continue to provide quality care to those who may otherwise be without medical care entirely. Go to https://juliascenter.org/donate/. Thank you in advance!!!!

Editor’s Note:

“Hang up and dial 911 or go to your nearest emergency room”. But what does that actually mean. For those who know me, or those who don’t know me, my background is Emergency Medicine and Nursing. I earned a master’s in Emergency Nursing, and I am board certified as a NP in that specialty. I’ve had the extreme privilege in my 30-year career to have cared for patients as an Air Force Nurse, as well as being both a NP and RN in level-one trauma centers, community hospitals and rural access hospitals and urgent care facilities. When you are fighting for your life that’s exactly where you need to be, the ER team will do their very best to care for you. This unfortunately leads to over-crowding and long wait times in most urban as well as rural emergency rooms because for the uninsured, the ERs tend to be the only place they can go to seek care. This is especially hard for patients needing basic care. Parkland hospital in Dallas has been known to have up to an 18-hour wait to see a provider. Patients who check -in for a non-emergent condition may be “bumped” in line because an ambulance came through the door with a patient in cardiac arrest. While your high blood pressure or headache could very well mean you are having a stroke, it cannot be diagnosed without a complete evaluation, so you wait. This could lead to a bad outcome, as many patients may leave with-out treatment, or their condition may become a “life-threatening” emergency while waiting. As immigration, and socio-economic woes increase, the patient medical needs will only increase, and ER’s will remain overcrowded.

Charity clinics such as Julia’s Center are a huge part in helping solve the health service shortage in the US. Prevention, and early detection and treatment is the key to keeping patients well. If chronic conditions are well managed, then strokes, heart attacks, kidney failure, or diabetic shock may be prevented. What we do matters, and what you can do will help. Health-care inequality will remain a challenge, ER overcrowding and over utilization will remain a problem. I hope you will join me in being a part of the solution. Volunteers at the clinic truly make a difference. By supporting organizations like Julia’s with your gifts of financial support, time or talent; You may save a life.

Quote: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world: indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has”, Margaret Mead.

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 COLLIN COUNTY FREE ESL CLASSES NEAR ME.

Collin Adult Education & Literacy (AEL)

2000 N Central Expressway, Plano TX (972) 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

Driver’s Licenses & ID Applications/Services

Texas Department of Public Safety