S7E5: A Legacy of Healing – Inside Seager Memorial Clinic’s Mission
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Today we are continuing our series of conversations with the Kempsey Gardner Policy Institute’s 2024 Informed Decision Makers. These are individuals and entities that are recognized for their unique contributions to the prosperity of our community here in Utah.
Here today to get a little bit of the fanfare they deserve are Jerika Mays and Dr. Mark Johnson from the Seager Memorial Clinic. The clinic’s mission is to provide underserved populations and individuals with easy-to-access, nonjudgmental, medical, dental, vision, and mental health care. Everything the clinic does is 100 percent free to everyone seeking care.
Jerika serves as the Executive Director of the Seager Memorial Clinic and Dr. Mark Johnson is Vice Chair of the Clinic’s Board as well as the Clinic’s Volunteer Medical Director.
Listen in as Jerika, Dr. Johnson and Frances discuss the vital role of the Seager Memorial Clinic in providing free, nonjudgmental healthcare to underserved populations in Utah. Our guests highlight the significant barriers to healthcare access and how the clinic addresses these challenges. We’ll also explore the clinic’s volunteer-driven model, the economic and social impact of healthcare access, and plans for expansion.
Eccles Business Buzz is a production of the David Eccles School of Business and is produced by University FM.
Episode Quotes
What it means to receive nonjudgmental healthcare according to Dr. Mark Johnson
[19:05]: We don’t screen patients at the front door or the front desk to try to determine what their financial situation is. So, we don’t ask, do they have insurance, do they have Medicare, do they have Medicaid? What’s their demographics? We don’t ask for W-2 forms. We don’t ask for citizenship documentation, et cetera. So, in that regard, we just take all comers. Patients don’t have to worry that they have to produce a lot of documents, you know, to prove that they are in need.
I guess the second part would be the volunteers not judging the patients for, you know, why they are there. There are people there for lots of different reasons. We do see a fair number of patients who have addictions. We see a fair number of patients who are homeless. We see some patients who have just come out of prison. We see patients who speak different languages, come from different backgrounds, some have insurance, some don’t. And I think the culture is that we accept them for who they are and withhold judgment. So, I think that helps patients feel welcome because I think, in a lot of cases, those circumstances, you know, they may feel judged before even being seen.
Making healthcare more accessible to the community
[14:02]: I think it’s easy for patients who don’t have insurance to put off their health. You know, they might need to be seen, but they put it off because they don’t have a point of access or they aren’t in a place financially to afford it.
Even if they do have insurance, maybe the copay is a barrier, right? So, patients might often put it off until it becomes an emergency and they might go to the emergency room. And at that time, it can be a real financial challenge because that can be a big cost for the patient and their family. So, I think by making it more accessible, they feel more comfortable coming to us in those early stages and receiving care before it becomes an emergency.
Plans for expansion: Creating more space to serve more people
[27:27]: Something we’re very excited about is we’re in the process of transforming Ogden’s former Family History Library on 24th Street into our new home, where we’ll have much more space to expand our services, expand our hours, and see more people in the community. The space is over 7,000 square feet. And we’ll include nine exam rooms, a dental suite with three dental operatories, a Class A charitable pharmacy, a room where we can start offering group classes like diabetes management or mental health wellness. We’ll have three spaces dedicated for mental health therapy in the future. So, I feel like this space is really going to be a game-changer for our community.
