Free Medical Clinic Director updates Council
Christie Derrick, counselor at the Free Clinic of Darlington County, talks with attendees of the Darlington County Coordinating Council meeting about setting intentions rather than resolutions for the new year.
Photos by Melissa Rollins
By Melissa Rollins, Editor, editor@newsandpress.net
Kathy Baxley, Executive Director of the Free Medical Clinic of Darlington County, gave members of the Darlington County Coordinating Council an update on the clinic during the council’s first meeting of the year, held January 6.
Baxley gave those present a general overview of what the clinic does.
“Our mission is to provide primary care, medications and pastoral support to the residents of Darlington County,” Baxley said. “It is truly a ministry that wants to help people be productive and get back on their feet; it is not something that will help somebody stay down. It is not something that will help somebody take care of their health needs if they aren’t willing to take care of themselves. We have to make sure that what we support the patients with is going to have a good healthy outcome.”
PDRTA Executive Director Chuck MacNeil talks about the new maps available that show the service’s route around Florence and Darlington.
The clinic operates two locations: one in Darlington and one in Hartsville. Hours during the week are split between the sites; Monday through Wednesday morning Hartsville is open and Wednesday afternoon through Friday, Darlington is open.
Prospective patients must go through an eligibility process and meet several criteria before being accepted as a patient. Some of the criteria includes: being a resident of Darlington County; being between the ages of 19 and 64; falling within an income guideline set by the clinic.
Baxley said that, with the Affordable Care Act coming online, the clinic is seeing fewer patients.
“Our visits have decreased a third ever since another FQHC (Federally Qualified Health Center) was opened in Darlington,” Baxley said. “It has decreased a third each year with the ACA coming into effect; that is why we reduced our hours at each site. Our patients are getting insurance but there is still enough need to stay open. I do want the community to know that our numbers are going down because that’s a victory.”
One new service that is being offered at the clinic is counseling. Christie Derrick joined the clinic, having over 15 years of work in the mental health field.
After Baxley’s presentation, Derrick went through an exercise with the meeting attendees talking about New Year’s Resolutions.
“There is a difference between resolutions and intentions,” Derrick said. “Intentions are broader and it is more about how we live our lives.”
Derrick asks participants to reflect on 2016 and look forward to what is upcoming in 2017.
“There have been a lot of changes in the last year,” Derrick said. “There can be anxiety associated with those changes.”
An example that she gave of a resolution as wanting to lose 10 pounds; an intention, on the other hand, could be wanting to take better care of yourself.
“It is more about the quality of life that we want to lead,” Derrick said.
Before asking participants to write down a few intentions of their own, Derrick gave them a few tips for setting intentions for the upcoming year.
Tips for Setting Intentions for the new year
• Make your intention a positive thing.
• Make it realistic with a realistic timeframe.
• Write down your intentions and keep track of them.
• Take time every day to reflect on your intention.
More information about the Free Clinic can be found at freemedicalclinicdc.org or by calling 843-398-0060 for the Darlington site or 843-332-0422 for the Hartsville site.
