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The People’s Health Clinic recently published its first-ever research paper in an international medical journal.

KPCW | By Parker Malatesta

The clinic studied whether undocumented immigrants with diabetes can see improved health outcomes through care at a free, non-federally funded healthcare provider, like the People’s Health Clinic.

The People’s Health Clinic only serves those without health insurance, and most of their clients are undocumented.

The study analyzed average levels of blood sugar in 128 uninsured, undocumented Hispanic residents who were a part of the clinic’s Programa de diabetes, which is a comprehensive diabetes treatment program. Data was gathered between October 2020 and October 2021.

Diabetes is a group of diseases that result in too much sugar in the blood, affecting how bodies turn food into energy.

It can lead to people’s bodies not making enough insulin, or stopping cells from responding to insulin, which over time can lead to serious health problems, such as heart disease, vision loss, and kidney disease.

Over 37 million Americans have diabetes, and in the last 20 years, the number of adults diagnosed with the disease has more than doubled, according to the CDC. There is no cure, but healthy eating and an active lifestyle can help.

People’s Health Clinic CEO Dr. Mairi Leining helped author the report, which is unique in that it solely looks at uninsured, undocumented people.

That population faces significant hurdles when it comes to healthcare, such as food insecurity, living below the poverty level, illiteracy, and ineligibility for Affordable Care Act programs and Medicaid.

Leining said another variable adding to difficulties is free time, and the clinic looked into why some patients weren’t making it to their medical appointments.

“We found out it’s because some of them were being labor trafficked, and couldn’t get a day off for 60 days,” Leining said. 

“We found that others would get fired if they showed up, or that others were depending on a friend of a friend to get a ride. If there was a snowstorm, everyone needed to make money shoveling snow. So when you start to take into all of these different factors, we really had to design a very flexible clinic where patients decided what day and time would be best for them to return on their schedule.”

She said clinic staff conducted home visits and dropped supplies off at workplaces for those really in a squeeze.

They also worked in partnership with other local nonprofits. Patients screened for food insecurity were referred to the Christian Center’s food bank, and Holy Cross Ministries helped with applications for patient assistance programs (PAPs).

Overall, they found that their program was a success, as they saw a “significant improvement” in average blood sugar levels despite the long list of public health barriers.

Leining said her goal with the research is to make undocumented residents a greater part of medical research.

“The undocumented immigrant population is sparsely evaluated in the research,” Leining said. “They’re not part of the census data. And unless something is measured, it doesn’t exist. And if it doesn’t exist, I can’t get funding for it.”

She also said she hopes to show that improved health outcomes are a real possibility.

“So in the Latinx culture, there’s this concept of fatalismo, like fatalism — once diagnosed with diabetes, you’re not going to get better, you’re going to die from it. There’s nothing anyone can do about it. And so overcoming that with our patients by showing them the reduction in the blood sugar, and our patients feeling much better physically, and the pride that they took in that was very rewarding for us.”

Leining said the paper is the first of many more to come out of the People’s Health Clinic, declaring that it now has a research department.

The diabetes study was published in Acta Diabetologica, Europe’s leading diabetes journal. A link to the full paper can be found here.

by Maren Jensen, KUTV – Wednesday, October 19th 2022

PARK CITY, Utah (KUTV) — The People’s Health Clinic is a free community clinic that takes care of the uninsured in Summit and Wasatch counties.

“What we do is serve as a safety net for people who otherwise would not have access to health care,” said Dr. Mairi Leining, CEO of People’s Health Clinic.

Dr. Leining says many people probably don’t realize there is a big wealth gap in the Park City area. But there are many people in the area who can’t get typical care.

“The majority of our patients are members of the Latinx community,” said Leining. “They’re really the hardworking members of our community who are staffing all of the resorts.”

SEE THE LIVE REPORT HERE

Tristan Lubina, DNP works at People’s Health Clinic as the Hypertension Program Director. People’s Health Clinic focuses on uninsured individuals in Summit and Wasatch Counties. PHC was awarded the Platinum level for this year’s Excellence in Blood Pressure Measurement and Control Award. Please enjoy Tristan’s presentation on Self Measured/Home Blood Preasure Monitoring which was submitted for review for this award.

KPCW | By Leslie Thatcher

Published July 11, 2022 at 3:33 PM MDT

The People’s Health Clinic is beefing up its women’s health offerings and has hired two new staff members dedicated to that responsibility.

Dr. Tania Bodnar has joined the People’s Health Clinic as its first Women’s Health Medical Director – a newly created position. Joining her will be nurse practitioner Elizabeth Jacobsen, a volunteer who will serve as the assistant medical director for women’s health.

CEO of the People’s Health Clinic Mairi (sounds like SORRY) Leining (LINING) says this commitment to women is in part due to the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision that overturned Roe v. Wade – a ruling that took away a woman’s federal right to an abortion – leaving it up to individual states to decide whether a woman can receive an abortion.

A fundraiser later this month, Walk and Wine, will support Bodnar’s salary. Leining says the fundraiser will also help raise the standard of women’s health care at the clinic for family planning services.

“It is to purchase birth control pills for our patients, as well as emergency contraception,” Leining said. “So, we can actually give our patients medications directly when they come to clinic. We also use the funding to get IUDs and implants; all forms of birth control, which, again, our patients are uninsured and the costs of birth control, it’s very expensive.”

She said there’s a big need for more health care for women. The number of requests for women’s health visits, she says have gone up by about 70% in the last year.

“In addition to that,” Leining said, “we have a lot of medically complicated patients and to have somebody with her [Dr. Bodar’s] level of training and years of experience is just really meaningful for improving the standard of care we can offer women in our town.”

More than 60 years after the approval of oral contraception, the Food and Drug Administration recently received its first application to supply a birth control pill over the counter without a prescription. The French company that filed the application, HRA Pharma, told the New York Times that the timing of the submission – just weeks after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade is just a coincidence.

Leining says the clinic wants to make sure women have easy access to affordable birth control.

“It’s just really important to make sure community members around you who may not have health insurance or may not be eligible for government subsidies, know about People’s Health Clinic,” Leining said. [That they] know that we have free contraception available and counseling services. I just want to make sure that we’re able to give women the upper hand as much as possible during this time.”

Leining added that in the last year, the clinic has created a program for same-day contraception. What that means is even if the clinic can’t make an appointment for a full health exam for another month, anyone who is uninsured and needs birth control immediately can call the People’s Health Clinic, and Leining says they will get them in that day.

Join us for our 2022 Walk & Wine event at Stein Eriksen Lodge in Deer Valley. The event is July 31st from 10:30am to 2:00pm. You can join us for morning yoga or a hike at Deer Valley and ride the chairlift down, or just join us for the 12:30 Luncheon at the Lodge—all in support of women’s health services and healthcare for those most in need in our community. Only a few tickets remain, to buy a table or tickets, you can go here!

Just recently, a generous donor came forward to donate $150,000 for a matching grant for women’s health services in this critical time. We are glad to announce that our matching grant for Women’s Health at People’s Health Clinic is underway!  To date we have successfully raised almost $40,000.  We need your help to leverage this generous match— would you be willing to financially support our vital healthcare for women?

Funding will be used for expansion of our same-day contraception program, emergency contraception and family planning services. Funding will also allow us to hire an additional women’s health practitioner to expand appointment availability for our patients and to continue our clinic’s overall work.  Last year alone our patients’ need for women’s health services grew by 70%.  Given recent developments, we are anticipating an even greater need to provide and fund these essential services.  Your support toward health equity for women in our community is crucial.  Please consider a gift of $5,000, $10,000 or more and help us fully match and quickly grow this effort.

Please consider your most generous support in this urgent moment: we need you with us, right now—for women’s health. Please join us today!

Thank you for your consideration and support—we can’t do it without you!   If you have any additional questions, please feel free to contact Ryan Newcomb, our Chief Development Officer at ryan@phcpc.org or by phone at 817-905-7372.