What is your passion? For some, their passion is changing healthcare.
Take for example today’s story – the third in our series and partnership with the Health & Justice project.
Dr. Myron Glick, founder of Jericho Road Family Practice, shares his experiences as a family doctor and how they have shaped his convictions on healthcare. (Part 1: 3 min, 35 sec, Part 2: 4 min, 19 sec, Part 3: 2 min, 39 sec, Music Credit: “Architecture In Leningrad” (Blues Skies and Paign) / CC BY 3.0)
Dr. Glick’s primary care practice sees approximately 70% Medicaid and 12% of individuals who have no insurance at all. The son of a missionary, Dr. Glick is currently a 46 year old primary care physician in Buffalo, New York. As you can hear from his story, part of the reason he does what he does with his “ideal” clinic is grounded in his passion and his faith.
You can hear more about Dr. Glick’s philosophy in other stories found here and here.
As an “exception” in the medical system, Dr. Glick’s practice takes on those in healthcare who often are left on their own due to lack of insurance coverage. Thankfully, he is not alone in his mission to help those who medically often need the most help.
Consider the Marillac clinic in Grand Junction, Colorado. Marillac’s vision statement really says it all: “Marillac Clinic welcomes underserved people and provides compassionate, innovative, and essential health care. Marillac Clinic takes a leadership role to promote access to quality health care for all.”
And they do. Marillac has prided itself for years on seeing only those patients who have no insurance. Period. They are disruptors who don’t play the traditional game of healthcare cat and mouse, but rather focus in on who in their community has the most need and then create a clinic that can serve them.
But don’t think that just because they only treat the uninsured that there services are limited. Marillac offers truly comprehensive integrated healthcare. According to their website: “integrated care recognizes that patients are best served when health care providers treat the whole person – not just a single symptom or condition. At Marillac Clinic we understand that stress and other psychological problems can impact one’s health. In turn, physical ailments can impact one’s mental well-being. Treating both together makes a successful outcome much more likely.”
Marillac’s leadership follows their passion.
Here at OH, we are passionate about transforming healthcare. We see examples like Dr. Glick and Marillac as polestars for our movement.
So again, what are your passions? What areas can you work on to help change healthcare?
No doubt as we all work towards change in healthcare, we will have to make use of our respective skills and expertise. However, passion for an issue usually trumps all, and it is our passion we should look to for continued inspiration.
Changing healthcare is hard, but it can be done. We must create the system that works around the patient, their families, and all our communities.
Dr. Miller has his doctorate in clinical psychology and is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine where he is the Director of the Office of Integrated Healthcare Research and Policy. His core task is to integrate mental health across all three of the department’s core mission areas: clinical, education, and research. Opinions expressed here are his own and not those of his employer.
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