Florida Hospital-DeLand kick-starts free clinic’s new building

PHOTO COURTESY FLORIDA HOSPITAL-DELAND
Good start — From left, Dr. Lawrence Gillard, Good Samaritan Clinic medical director; Kathleen Vanbrunt, RN, Good Samaritan Clinic case manager; and Dr. Lyle Wadsworth, Good Samaritan Clinic volunteer physician accepts a check from Daryl Tol, Florida Hospital-DeLand CEO.

By

posted Sep 26, 2011 - 2:57:36pm

DELAND – Florida Hospital DeLand has donated $20,000 to the Good Samaritan Clinic, a medical home for the uninsured of West Volusia who are at 200 percent of the federal poverty level or below.

The clinic wants to move from its current location at 312 W. New York Avenue to a larger facility that will allow it to treat more patients, as well as treat both dental and regular patients all under one roof. The hospital’s donated funds kick-start the clinic’s fundraising efforts to raise $400,000 to purchase a new building.

“A new building would allow us to provide a continuity of care,” said Mary Gusky, Good Samaritan Clinic Office Manager. “Putting the dental and regular clinic services all under one roof would be more convenient for patients and would allow us to cross-train staff in day-to-day office management roles.”

The current clinic in DeLand is 2,700 square feet and the dental clinic, located at 1245 S. Volusia Avenue, Orange City, is 1,000 square feet. The small facilities do not have conference rooms for physicians and staff to talk privately with patients, nor do they provide any storage space, preventing the facility from purchasing supplies in bulk, reducing their cost.

"There are a lot of mission trips abroad,” said Gusky. “While that’s great and I applaud that, this is our mission here, locally. This is a chance for those who are blessed to give back locally, to our own community.”

—

Comment on this article

Commenting is closed for this article.

If you would like to contribute a letter to the editor, please click here.

Did you find this story interesting or informative? Subscribe to The West Volusia Beacon to read more stories by , along with others from our award-winning writers. Subscribe now!