Center treats uninsured

The Poverello Center, which opened in October in the former St. Casimir's convent, provides free health care for neighborhood residents, as well as an on-site pharmacy, spiritual direction and referrals for legal advice and social services.

The second floor of the brick building in the inner-city neighborhood is home to the offices of the Healthy Capital District Initiative (HCDI). Patients who come to the center are also helped to sign up for the Family Health Plus insurance program currently getting off the ground in New York State.

The Poverello Center is actually a partnership between HCDI; St. Peter's Hospital in Albany; the Whitney M. Young Jr. Health Center; the Albany County Health Department; the volunteer physicians, nurses and attorneys who staff the center; and the Center City Parish Social Ministry, which is itself a partnership of St. Casimir's, Our Lady of Angels and St. Patrick's parishes in Albany. HCDI manages the center's funds and picks up the expenses for the uninsured patients.

Rev. Alvin Somerville, OFM Conv., heads two of the three parishes involved and founded the Poverello Center.

"It's not a clinic as such," he noted. "We call ourselves a `voluntary physicians' practice.'" While a clinic is subject to state regulations, he said, physicians volunteering their time can simply treat patients at Poverello.

Father Somerville got the idea for the center while serving in Camden, New Jersey, a city of such poverty that the priest called it "a disaster area."

He recalled the Jesuit religious community taking over a parish in Camden and sending in a bevy of priests who could offer health care, social services and other services. Father Somerville said he looked at their model and thought, "If only we could do something like that."

When he later came to the Albany Diocese, he got his wish. "Taking over the administration of St. Casimir's, I wanted to see if we could establish something similar to what the Jesuits had done in Camden," he said.

The priest assembled a steering committee and learned that it was indeed possible. With help from all of the partnering organizations, the Poverello Center was born -- with a name meaning "the little poor one," often used to refer to St. Francis of Assisi. Diocesan lawyer Michael Costello pitched in, gathering names of fellow attorneys willing to work pro bono for people in need of legal aid. Six doctors and three nurses also volunteer at the center.

The West Hill neighborhood desperately needed a place like Poverello, according to steering committee member Joseph Pofit, who oversees HCDI and is director of long-term campuses and senior housing for the Albany Diocese.

He cited an HCDI survey of the area that showed 69 percent of the population had no health insurance. However, Mr. Pofit and HCDI operations director Dot Jones noted that the very people who need help often mistrust the system.

The pair said it's taking some time to get the word out about Poverello. Since it opened, only about 30 people have come to the center for medical care or other help.

"The need is there, but people just haven't come forward," Father Somerville observed.

A typical patient, said Mr. Pofit, is an adult (the center doesn't treat children) with a problem like high blood pressure, a cold or lower back pain. Father Somerville remarked that local emergency rooms are often flooded with such patients, who turn to ERs for treatment of simple medical problems because they lack insurance.

At Poverello, a patient's illness is diagnosed and treated, and the information on their condition is faxed to either St. Peter's Hospital's health center or the Whitney Young Health Center. The next day, a Poverello nurse calls to set up an appointment at one of the facilities, so patients are connected to a primary-care physician who can treat them on a long-term basis.

Mr. Pofit noted that the Poverello Center isn't intended to be a source of continuing care, but a resource to help people find that care. Ms. Jones joked that the center is "one-stop shopping," since people can sign up for the Family Health Plus and Child Health Plus programs right in the building.

The center will participate in two health fairs in the coming months to attract clients: one in March in cooperation with the 100 Black Men center in Albany, and one by the center itself on June 6. Mr. Pofit hopes to promote trust of the center in the neighborhood, saying that people want to learn more about the center and see how others are treated before going there themselves.

Father Somerville noted that the three Albany parishes who have partnered want evangelization to be part of their ministry. However, he said, when you knock on people's doors, "you have to have something to invite them to."

He wants the Poverello Center to be such a place. Ms. Jones made a simple salespitch: "If you don't feel good, you don't have to go very far to find a good doctor."

(The Poverello Center, located at 315 Sheridan Ave., Albany, is open Wednesdays from 6:30-8:30 p.m. Call 463-5440.)

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