Page Ten
THE MICHIGAN DAILY
! hursdlay September -1,It Vi 7
f .
Local clinic offers wide
services
to
those in need
By JONATHAN EPSTEIN Medical Center, Inc., receive
additional funding is over 600 patient visits weekly.
Unles r pThe Free People's Clinic is
found, the Free People's Clinic lkl ob h nypsil
of An Abor illbe frce tolikely to be the only possible
of Ann Arbor will be forced to source of health care for those
shut down by the end of the who use its facilities. The aver-
year. age fee collected from Clinic
Located at 225 E. Liberty, the patients is less than one dollar.
Clinic is open three evenings In contrast, the walk-in clinics
per week and currently provides of the two hospitals usually
primary health care to about 40 charge about $10 per patient
patients weekly. In addition, the visit, while the average fee
Clinic sponsors Children Health charged by the Summit Street
Fairs in which free physical ex- facility averages between $7 and
aminations, immunizations and $8.
hearing tests are given, and A Free People's Clinic survey
participates with several other indicates that over half of its
Ann Arbor area health care fa-
cilities in Project Unicorn, a ...
program designed to meet thee
financial needs of the elderly in TeFe epeS
those areas not covered by pri- essential service" to
vate medical insurance or gov, .
ernment aid programs. -munity.
WHEN COMPARED to other-
low-cost halth clinics in Ann Clinic
Arbor, the patient load of the
Free People's Clinic is not large ....
-in one week, the University patients earn less than $3,000
Hospital Adult Walk-In Clinic annually, an income level which
absorbs approximately 320 pa- probably precludes the use of
tients, while theSt.-Joseph other health care clinics in the
Mercy Hospital Walk-In seescty.
about 150 patients. Two lost costciy
tend that the counseling services
humanize health care whereas
medical facilities in Ann Arbor
are thought to be cold, imper-
sonal institutions.
In essence, it seems that large
numbers of Clinic patients pre-
fer the treatment offered at the
Clinic to that of other health
care facilities, and many of
them could not afford to use
other facilities on a long term
basis.
JANET KLAVER, a member
of the board of directors of the
Summit Center, .feels that the
Clinic furnishes "an
the Ann Arbor com-
r, one member of the,
C's board of directors
Daily Photo by PAULINE LUBENS
A DOCTOR at the Free People's Cinic looks over the chart
of a patient with one of the many volunteers that staff the
l
Clinic. It is located at 226 E. Liberty and the phone number health care clinics administered T H E CLIENTELE of the
is 761-8952 by the non-profit Summit Street Clinic is mainly composed of
_- - __--_--self-supporting y o u n g people.
During the initial establishment
of the Clinic, transient youths
formed a significant part of the
Clinic's patient load, but pres-
ently an overwhelming majority
W W ; of clinic patients are permanent
residents of the Ann Arbor com-
munity who use it on a regular
1209 S. basis.
Ui ri The Clinic provides extensive
niYersity health care counseling in addi-
tion to medical treatment. Be-
fore seeing a member of the
Looking for: Jewelry, Bedspreads linic'svolunteer staff of phy-
Ssicians, each patient is given
Tapestries, Natural Cosmeticsthe opportunity to discuss health
concerns with a patient advo-
Plants, Pottery, Cards? catePatients of the clinic con-
We have that AND MORE
Mon.-Fri.: 10-9
Sat.: 10-6 :w2\\
SSun.: 12-5
Imported men's &
women's clothes
from India,
.Turkey, Mexico THE DILY
Rumania,
Afghanistan, make
Also fine
Quality craft turquoise interesting
supplies: jewelry reading
Beads in the 1000's Fri. til 9
Yarns, Fibers & Mon.-Sat.: 10-6
n looms, stones,
candle-making
supplies and more.
Mon.-Sat.: 10-6 the fixin for
Fri. tiI9A hn
211 S. Statea beautifully -U- HI
a EXCLUSIVE HII
o I
decorated room
- ,, £or apartment-
°°Plus fine clothes,
ewel ry & ra
ruch more. ()With #
Healthy & s dcoer any c
Stan Arborst
unusual tropical AnnArbor's most
unusual stores
plants & cacti on campus.
* *
Also large selection of/
pottery, unusual cards /;'.
& baskets.
O ~
a (V J .-m
Free People's Clinic furnishes
"an essential service" to the
Ann Arbor community.
But,. because of the Clinic's
desire to avoid prohibitive pa-
tient charges, it faces financial
difficulties.
It has asked the city of Ann
Arbor for $117,355 in Federal
Revenue Sharing Funds. Over,
half the sum was requested to
expand the operations of the
Clinic. It also wants to hire a
full-time physician, increase the
number of paid administrative
staff and finance downpayment
costs for a permanent facility.
THE OFFICES of the Free
People's Clinic are presently on
the second floor of a building
lacking an elevator. Kevin Con-
way, one of the six administra-
tive coordinators of the Clinic
points out that the offices are
both cramped and inaccessible
to elderly patients. A new facil-
ity with a full-time doctor would
permit an expansion of the
Clinic's services to serve over
150 persons per week.
Such an expansion is neces-
sary, according to the Clinic's
request f o r revenue sharing
monies because "with the relo-
cation of St. Joseph Mercy Hos-
pital to Superior Township, the
need for low cost health care
will rise considerably in our
city."
It should be noted, however,
that St. Joseph's will, not be
moving until the summer of
1977 an the hospital has indi-
cated that it may leave its walk-
in clinic open. They will not
make the final decision concern-
ing the eventual location of the
walk-in facilities until an out-
side consultant's study on am-
bulatory health care services in
the Ann Arbor area, sponsored
by five local hospitals, is com-
pleted
BUT EVEN if the walk-in
clinic of St. Joseph's remains in
Ann Arbor, there is need for
expansion of the Free People's
Clinic-due to operating hours,
the clinic is currently forced to
turn away as many patients as
it serves.
One might still question the
desirability of Clinic expansion
for the sake of accommodating
elderly patients-elderly people
may not feel comfortable with
the younger patients of the
Clinic. Bob Soderstorm, a resi-
dent physician at the University
Hospital and a member of the
Clinic's volunteer staff, stated
that "it might be impossible to
mergethe two clientele."
Another m e mb er of the
Clinic's physician staff suggest-
ed that the Clinic could estab-
lish separate sessions for the
elderly in much the same man-
ner that they presently reserve
Wednesday nights for gynecol-
ogy cases.
SODERSTROM did feel a
salaried physician would be of
great benefit to the clinic-a
full time doctor would permit
the regular patients of the Clinic
to be seen by. the same physi-
cian on succeeding visits. In ad-
dition, the uncertainty created
by the recent increase in mal-
practice litigation has had a
negative effect on the Clinic's
ability to maintain a stable vol-
unteer staff. An administrative
coordinatorhof the Clinic be-
lieves, "The F r e e People's
Clinic will not be able to sus-
tain its present level of services
without the assistance of a sala-
ried physician."
The future level of services at
the Clinic rests to a large de-
gree with the Citizens' Commit-
tee on Community Development
Revenue Sharing, a group ap-
pointed by Democratic Mayor
Albert Wheeler to establish a
tentative allocation of federal
revenue sharing funds.
Spencer Maidlow, an assistant
administrator of St. Joseph's de-
clares that "the Free People's
Clinic is adding beneficially to
the health care resources of Ann
Arbor." If the city does refuse
to fund the Clinic, it will be
denying adequate health care to
a portion of its population.
For
bargain
Hunters
:LASSIFIEDS
4% -
Daily Photo by KEN FINK
He's a pinball wizard...
A PINBALL PLAYER stands transfixed before his
machine-playing the little silver ball. In Ann Arbor,
pinball is getting as popular as football. Arcades have
sprung up all around town, providing easy access for
whenever the urge hits.
An ro:Pinball
mecca for wizards
By ELAINE FLETCHER
Ann Arbor is a haven for " would-be wizards who like to
chase the elusive silver ball. Pinball used to hide out in the
darkened corners of bars, but now the city harbors four
or five pinball parlours - enough to satisfy even addicted
pinball players.
And the arcades are evenly dispersed throughout the
city, providing easy access for whenever the urge hits.
A brand new A-frame houses the Arcade Five on Church
street, while Richard's Folly near Mosher-Jordan Dormi-
tory gives the Hill area residents a convenient chance to
catch a few games.
THE RING of bells can be heard until four in the morning
at Campus Pinball on South University, and from the Tom-
mies on Packard and State.
And for those who live further downtown, the Ebony Ar-
cade operates on the corner of Fourth and Ann street.
Many of the local bars provide machines.
But one of the most popular arcades is the Cross-Eyed
Moose on Liberty.. Like most pinball parlours, it consists
of rows of flashing, ringing, buzzing machines operated
by zombie like players.
"THIS IS the best place to play pinball," said a woman
handing out change at the Cross Eyed Moose. "We clean
the machines once a week and' have all sorts of freebies
(free game periods.)"
Freebies range from free games offered to all short peo-
ple to bleached blondes to the more traditional women's
night and an American Cancer Society Benefit hour.
It's all a part of a promotional effort to make pinball
appeal to a wide variety of people.
"ALTHOUGH we're not trying to make it a family
affair we are trying to bake it a little more wholesome,"-
"but not too wholesome," she added, shaking a finger for
emphasis. "Because part of the attraction of pinball is
that it's a little shady."
For the beginner, pinball may seem to be a game con-
sisting primarily of luck. However, Ellen demonstrated
the importance of skill to a potential pinball wizard.
"It's a matter of learning to catch the ball and then
letting it slide along the fliper till you hit it," she explained.
"Or you can pass the ball back and forth from one flipper
to the other."
"AND THEN sometimes you loose it," groans Ellen when
her "bumping" and shaking of the machine fails to keep
the ball in play.
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