BY CLARE MARIE CELANO
Staff Writer
MIGUEL JUAREZ staff Nurse Grace Ann Barrett calls for the next patient at the Paul M. McGuire Family Health Center, Freehold Borough, while assistant Virginia McGlone (l) prepares to check a patient’s blood pressure. The clinic recently marked its first year of service. FREEHOLD — Area residents who do not have health insurance were given a gift a year ago, and that gift will keep on giving.
The gift is free medical care at the Paul M. McGuire Family Health Center. The benefactors are officials from the I Beseech Thee Community Development Corp. (IBTCDC), a faith-based nonprofit organization whose mission is to provide community services to those in need and to help them improve their lives. Instrumental in the operation of the clinic are the 21 volunteers that include doctors, nurses and administrative personnel.
The clinic, which is housed in a trailer that sits in the parking lot of the New Beginnings Agape Christian Center, Throckmorton Street, celebrated its first anniversary Jan. 21. The trailer has a reception area and two examination rooms. A volunteer interpreter is available to assist people who do not speak English.
Church officials honored the clinic’s founders and volunteers with a dinner and ceremony at the church Jan. 20. The late Rev. Paul McGuire was remembered for his contributions to the community. McGuire’s son, the Rev. Andre McGuire, is the current pastor of the New Beginnings Agape Christian Center. Attendees also prayed and gave thanks for all that has been accomplished in the clinic’s first year.
Dr. Anna Sweany, medical director of the clinic, said the clinic is open every Thursday from 6-9 p.m. and on selected days for pediatric and gynecological visits.
Sweany also directs Our Lady of Providence Clinic, Neptune.
She told the dinner guests that she recognized the need for free health care in a clinic setting while she was working as an emergency room doctor in Long Island, N.Y.
“I saw many patients come in to use the emergency room as their primary care doctor,” she said. “Many had no money and couldn’t afford to take a day off to go to the doctor’s office. I knew something had to be done. That idea hibernated inside me until 1996, when I realized it was my time to do something about it.”
Freehold’s Paul M. McGuire Family Health Center offers physicals, health maintenance, treatment of minor illnesses and health education/prevention, in addition to blood pressure and other health screenings and children’s immunizations. Any individual may seek assistance at the clinic.
“If we take care of people on a regular basis, they don’t end up in the hospital with complications,” Sweany said.
She expressed her ongoing desire to make a difference in people’s lives.
“I have a fantastic job,” the doctor said. “I love what I’m doing. It’s a family business with profits in heaven.”
Nurse practitioner Joyce Jenkins, program coordinator of the clinic, was also recognized for her service. Jenkins said that during its first year of operation, the clinic cared for 175 patients in more than 400 visits. The clinic is staffed by volunteer doctors, nurses and administrative personnel.
“We see between eight to 10 patients per session,” Jenkins said. “We are hoping to be able to open the clinic for two days a week soon.
She praised the 21 volunteers who give of their time and spoke of the goals of clinic officials for the coming year.
“Our patients have a very long wait, so we would like to increase our hours to at least two days a week. And, of course, we always need more donations,” she said. “The Parker Clinic [in Red Bank] started out the same way. Now they are in their own building, so of course we are also looking for a piece of land as well.”
Jenkins said additional volunteers will be needed to staff the clinic if more hours are offered.
State Assemblyman Michael Panter (D-Monmouth and Mercer) and Monmouth County Freeholder Robert Clifton also attended the dinner.
The Rev. Ricky Pierce, chairman of IBTCDC, said Panter was instrumental in securing a grant that allowed officials to purchase equipment for the clinic.
Pierce also said that without Jenkins there would be no clinic. He said Sweany and Jenkins were both in the “right place at the right time” to help IBTCDC. He recognized Clarence Cyrus, who got the trailer from Neptune to Freehold and who is also responsible for maintaining the facility.
In his remarks, McGuire said, “We are very grateful for all that has been accomplished through the help of caring people. My father instilled in all of us that we must care about people. He also said it would not always make you feel good, but we learned that it is always better to give than to receive.”
McGuire said he was looking forward to great things with the clinic in the future.
Volunteer Charlese Hatchett, a member of the New Beginnings congregation, volunteers in an administrative capacity. She said, “When God is a blessing to you, He expects you to be a blessing to others. When much is given to people, he expects you to give back. It is a natural extension of the heart.”