peopleshealthc

It was a true celebration when Patty García was called to the stage, the backing and admiration of her peers evident in the cheerful roar of support that filled the room of Park City Community Foundation’s Grant Celebration at Snow Park Lodge.

García had won the Trisha J. Worthington Community Service Award, which the foundation confers annually to an individual who has been generous with their time and talent to charitable and community endeavors. 

Currently serving as the patient access director for the People’s Health Clinic, Garcia is also a board member of PC Tots and a mother of four, and she is widely recognized for her dedication and advocacy in creating accessible and inclusive opportunities in health care and child care for the community. 

The foundation also said that García had been nominated multiple times for the award this year and last.

“Patty has a heart of gold and is a tireless champion for child care and health care,” said Sue Banerjee, executive director of PC Tots. “Despite working full time and raising her own children, she finds time to support the community through formal and informal ways. She is there to connect people to services and give advice. … She has been a voice for many who otherwise would not be heard.”

“I feel so happy,” said García, “I am surprised, but I feel very happy to have been recognized, and for my work to have been recognized.”

It’s an honor, she said, and she appreciates the recognition for doing something she loves.

García said she loves to go to work and interact with the people she is there to serve. She spoke about the close-knit types of relationships she has built over the years and how fortunate she feels to be in a position where patients trust that she will help them. 

“I love that people come to me because they know I will do my best to help them with whatever they need,” said García, “I feel that sometimes you can get tired of what you do or say that, but whenever you look at something and think, if we weren’t here, if the clinicians weren’t here, this man would have never known his diagnosis, or this woman would have never known this was happening to her — knowing that I can help them is the best feeling I could have.”

The People’s Health Clinic is a volunteer-driven organization that summarizes its mission in three words: “Here, we care.”

García said she strives to be a person of trust, one who is available to help those without support systems or who otherwise might be alone, unseen, untreated and unheard.

García said that especially in a situation in which not everyone qualifies for health care, and particularly when helping the undocumented community — because they are often the ones who don’t qualify for any programs — knowing that she is helping them and that they can trust her just as she trusts them fills her heart.

She likened this type of trust to what she she aims to provide for her parents.

“More than anything, I know that if I don’t do things for (my parents), no one else is going to do it for them. So I want them to know that I am the person who will be there for them.”

In the same way, García’s goal is to provide that care to those in the community who need it, every step of the way, no matter the magnitude or difficulty of what someone may be facing.

“I’ll hold your hand until you get what you need,” said García.

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Reported by Leslie Thatcher, KPCW

People’s Health Clinic CEO Mairi Leining talks about programs the clinic offers for uninsured residents in Summit and Wasatch counties.

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Reported by Leslie Thatcher, KPCW

Members of the Park City Community Foundation’s Women’s Giving Fund voted to award $75,000 to the People’s Health Clinic.

The announcement was made on Wednesday, June 10, at the annual grant celebration at Park City Mountain’s Red Pine Lodge.

The more than 2,000 members of Women’s Giving Fund vote every year to decide which of three local organizations should receive the annual high-impact grant.

The fund started in 2014 when 1,000 women donated $1,000 each, raising an endowment of $1 million. This year’s $75,000 grant to the People’s Health Clinic was the largest ever awarded. People’s Health Clinic provides free health care to the uninsured in Summit and Wasatch counties.

When accepting the award, Women’s Health Director Dr. Tonja Bodnar stood next to the mom-to-be who was featured in the finalist video, members saw before casting their votes. They were also joined on stage with the patient’s newborn daughter Ataña.

“I have delivered 1000s of babies I’ve performed 1000s of surgeries,” Dr. Bodar said. “I don’t quiver. This is quiver-worthy. You are incredible. Thank you.”

People’s Health Clinic CEO Mairi Leining says the money will be used to elevate the women’s health program.

“Right now we’ve got Tonia Bodnar working at max capacity along with her other women’s health practitioners,” Leining said. “Where I feel like we can bring the program to another level is by adding a community health worker who can really do attentive, detailed follow-up with our patients. So, when Dr. Bodnar wraps up with the patient, the community health worker would then go in and make sure that individual has everything they need to succeed.”

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Reported by Leslie Thatcher, KPCW

People’s Health Clinic Assistant Medical Director Rachelle Flinn and Diabetes Program Director MaeLin Sorensen discuss their long-standing connection to the organization.

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KPCW

People’s Health Clinic Founder and Board Member, Dr. John Hanrahan and Chief Development Officer, Jenn Marley, discuss the clinic’s 25th anniversary and announce this year’s Walk and Wine event.

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Nonprofit started with four volunteers, now at staff of 26

ParkRecord

Though the dream of free, quality health care is unlikely to ever become reality on a national scale in the U.S., it’s already so for uninsured residents of Summit and Wasatch Counties. 

Over the past 25 years, the People’s Health Clinic has brought the best in health care to individuals who make up the backbone of the Wasatch Back. All it takes is proof of uninsured status and proof of residency to be seen by their team of highly trained medical personnel.

“We don’t actually look at what people’s income levels are,” said Mairi Leining, the clinic’s chief executive officer. “That being said, I mean, wealthy people don’t go to a free clinic, so 98% of our patients live below the federal poverty level.”

This has been the case since its founding in 1999, created in response to a problem that still exists today.

John Hanrahan, a doctor and one of the nonprofit’s founders, said a local family doctor was seeing a lot of Latino patients who didn’t have health care.

“So he went to Father Bob Bussen at St. Mary’s Catholic Church to say, ‘Hey, I’ve seen a lot of your parishioners who don’t have health insurance. Is there something that can be done about that to help them?’” Hanrahan said.

They decided to see if access to free health care would be received by the community and held a health fair at Park City High School to check blood pressure and glucose.

“We had about 700 people show up, which was a massive number for that sort of event,” Hanrahan said. “So that kind of convinced everybody that, yeah, there really was a real need and a big need, and we should move ahead.”

First, they bought a mobile trailer, which had one exam room and one entry room where they could draw blood.

Dalia Gonzalez, at the time a 9-year-old undocumented Park City resident, remembered stepping onto that trailer in its early days. Though her younger siblings were born in the United States after her parents moved from Mexico when she was an infant and had access to health care growing up, she didn’t have that same luxury.

“At the time, we were undocumented, so therefore my parents didn’t have any health insurance. And my parents would take me for my pediatric checkups, and if I was sick, they would take me to the People’s Health Clinic, and I would get my care there,” Gonzalez said.

The People’s Health Clinic was just one of the resources resulting from a generous Park City community, said Gonzalez, who remembered also receiving the opportunity to ski, thanks to a local nonprofit. 

“For me it was always like, ‘Wow, I live in such a giving community. I want one day to be able to give back,’” she said.

In high school, Gonzalez began volunteering at the clinic and pursued a path in the medical field. After graduating from the University of Utah, she got a job with Planned Parenthood in Park City.

“The service that they provided in Park City was access to birth control, access to women’s health care. And unfortunately, Planned Parenthood had to leave the Park City community because I remember that the lease went too high,” she said. “That’s when People’s Health Clinic took the plan of, ‘OK, if our partner can’t stay, we need to do something to be able to provide this service.’”

Gonzalez has come full circle, now working as the operations director at the People’s Health Clinic, supporting the medical staff behind the scenes, ensuring they’re fully staffed with the right equipment they need each day. 

Since Gonzalez’ and many others’ experience with the clinic 25 years ago, plenty has changed.

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