The Heights Foundation is setting up a free medical clinic in the Lee County neighborhood of Harlem Heights.
That’s thanks to a $15,000 dollar donation from the Gulf Harbor Foundation.
Kathryn Kelley is the President, CEO and Founder of the Heights Foundation. Kelley said her group aims to help families in the struggling Harlem Heights out of poverty.
However, Kelley said health issues having been keeping residents in the area, many of which do not have health insurance, from working and going to school.
“We just found that having health issues exacerbated the other problems that low-income families will face,” he said.
When it opens, the free Harlem Heights clinic will be staffed by volunteers.
Andrea Kuzbyt, with Lee County Volunteers in Medicine, said the clinic will require help from medical practitioners, as well as some non-medical staff.
“One of the main things is just increasing access to affordable care,” she said. “This is a free clinic for the uninsured. So that they can partake of the services we provide. Hopefully, one of the outcomes is that we keep them out of the emergency room.”
A year ago, Nova Southeastern students conducted a needs-assessment of Harlem Heights and found a high rate of chronic diseases. Kuzbyt said together volunteers will tackle the area’s high rate of diabetes and hypertension through care and education.
“We hope to have some classes in both English and in Spanish and teach better nutrition and understanding what the disease is and how you can take care of it,” Kuzbyt said.
She said many retired medical professionals in the Lee County Area have already committed to volunteer, but they are always looking for more.
