St. Mary’s Receives Innovative COVID-19 Response Award

Awarded by the Many Faces of Community Health, the team at St. Mary’s Health Clinics received an award recently for its Innovative COVID-19 Response. Below is the team’s inspiring response, how it has succeeded, and information on the founding of its St. Mary’s Emergency Assistance Fund.

When the first cases of COVID-19 were identified in Minnesota, SMHC turned its model of care upside down in order to maintain the health of its patients. The buildings housing clinic spaces had closed their doors to outside participants; volunteer providers were among high-risk groups; even the building housing its central office was completely closed, with the SMHC staff given special permission to continue working. Everyone feared for the health of the patients, so many of whom have the chronic health problems that require regular medications but who have no other source of care. SMHC staff quickly gathered in a series of meetings, with leadership and the medical director, to create a new model of care that was implemented in mid-March and that still continues, with modifications as sites have opened and volunteer providers have gradually returned. Here’s what was done:

 To support the large number of patients with chronic health problems, SMHC implemented a “drive-by” medication-dispensing clinic at its central office site in the Carondelet Center. SMHC nursing supervisors speak with patients by phone to determine their current health status prior to scheduling a medication pickup for refills of current medications. Prior to the clinic session, medications are reviewed and approved by the medical director or a volunteer provider; they are then packaged individually for each patient. Patients are given a scheduled pickup time and screened for COVID-19 symptoms beforehand.

At the appointment time, a Spanish-speaking SMHC Community Health Worker (CHW) wearing PPE greets the patient from a six-foot distance at the entrance to the building and, after identifying the patient, places the bag with their medications on a small table. She then steps back and the patient takes the bag with medications; a clinic nursing supervisor is also present and available to answer any questions the patient might have. Patients are given free face masks if they need them as well as printed information of community resources such as food shelves, COVID testing sites, mental health support and other resources. On a number of occasions, SMHC has partnered with students from St. Catherine University to give out food during the medication dispensing session, from both the student-run food shelf and  the garden maintained by Celeste’s Dream, another of the ministries. The CHW and/or the clinic supervisor maintains phone contact with the patients between medication pick-ups. The success of the model led to its implementation at two other locations as soon as SMHC was permitted to return. And while SMHC has also successfully implemented “virtual” visits with patients and cautiously begun face-to-face visits for selected patients, the medication clinics have continued to be mainstay of the COVID-19 practice environment. Often a patient will have a virtual visit followed by a medication pick-up later the same day, allowing for continuity and health maintenance. The success of this approach can be measured by the numbers: as of August 15 (at all sites), 1358 medication refills have been done. These medications were provided to patients whose chronic illnesses would no doubt have worsened considerably otherwise. Additionally, to support patients who lost jobs or had their incomes reduced due to COVID-19, SMHC put in place a COVID-19 Emergency Assistance Program that distributes emergency funds to patients. To date, SMHC has distributed more than $52,000 in emergency funds, up to $500 per household.

 The creativity and dedication of the entire SMHC staff resulted in the success of this program and its contribution to supporting the vulnerable population it serves.