PLNU celebrates 25th anniversary of free healthcare clinic for uninsured patients

The line forms early every Saturday morning at the corner of University Ave. and 41st Street. People come to Mid City Church of the Nazarene in City Heights for a free food distribution.

Some of them also come on Tuesdays and Thursdays for free basic healthcare.

“My faith moves mountains,” said Anacleta Molina Alonzo translated from Spanish. She is a member of the Mid City church who also received years of treatment at the Point Loma Nazarene University Health Promotion Center (HPC) housed in the shadow of the church bell tower.

“I walked with a cane more than thirteen years. At the clinic here, they extended a hand like family. I love all the doctors and nurses and pray for them,” she said. At the time, she was uninsured and turned to the free and charitable clinic for her treatment.

In May 2000, Margaret Stevenson, R.N., Ed.D. and Dottie Crummy, R.N., Ph.D., started the health center on the church property with grant money and support from PLNU’s School of Nursing. Saturday morning, they celebrated the 25th anniversary of the faculty/ student-supported clinic.

On Tuesdays and Thursdays from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. uninsured patients can make appointments for lab work, chronic disease management, cancer screenings, pap smears, dental and vision screenings, and vaccinations.

“If we diagnose someone with a condition we don’t have all the resources to fix, we partner with community members and outside doctors who can often offer free or low-priced surgeries and services that we can’t,” Amanda Thurman told NBC 7. She is a PLNU alumnae of the class of 1993. Thurman works as a family nurse practitioner.

Private donations, grants, and funding from the university have kept the operation going. It serves adults 18 and older. The center requires appointments be made by calling 619-849-3302.

They will take walk-in patients if there is an opening from someone who is a “no show”.

M.G. Perez

M.G. Perez

“At the end of their appointment, patients will be like ‘ok so what do I owe you? We’re like, nothing,” said the clinic’s director, Kristen Kellogg. Kellogg also said the clinic has much more availability for more patients.