Red Bank health clinic raising funds to build larger facility

Published in the Asbury Park Press 5/16/01
By ANDREA ALEXANDER
MIDDLETOWN BUREAU

RED BANK -- As the line of people waiting to see a doctor outside the Parker Family Health Clinic keeps getting longer, it became clear that the center had outgrown its small space soon after it opened its doors last summer.

A 750-square-foot trailer did not provide the room needed to help the 3,000 people without health insurance who have sought treatment at the clinic in the past year, said Eugene M. Cheslock, president of the board of trustees.

So the board recently bought the neighboring building at 211 Shrewsbury Ave., and is hoping to raise enough money to tear down that building to build a new clinic on the site, Cheslock said.

The construction costs of the clinic are estimated to cost between $300,000 and $400,000, Cheslock said. That does not include the cost of maintenance once the new building opens sometime next year, Cheslock said. Supplies and other expenses cost an additional $200,000 a year, added John Horl, treasurer for the board.

To help defray some of the costs, Sen. John O. Bennett III, R-Little Silver, presented the clinic with a $100,000 state grant yesterday that will pay for the salaries of the director and her assistant. All doctors, nurses and translators who work with patients volunteer their time. In total, 80 volunteers keep the clinic operating.

"This wouldn't work without the volunteers giving their time and energy," Bennett said. "When you have doctors and nurses willing to donate their time, it can provide great opportunities."

The clinic is the only one of its kind in the county, providing free health services and medicine to people without insurance. The center provides family medicine, pediatric care and gynecological services. Patients from as far away as Allentown on the border of Mercer County travel to Red Bank to take advantage of the clinic's services, said Mary Nicosia, director of the clinic. The center is open Monday and Wednesday from 3:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. and Saturday from 8 a.m. to noon. The waiting room is always packed, with people often lining up outside the door, said Ana Marcatili, Rumson, who volunteers as a translator. "The waiting room is always filled with people, baby carriages, coats and relatives," Marcatili said.

The waiting room is a tiny space cramped with a desk and eight chairs at the front of the trailer. Plans for the new building call for a considerably larger waiting room that could seat 26 people comfortably, Nicosia said.

It will also have a separate room to give doctors and nurses space to sit with patients and talk about their case history, treatment or other issues. A community room will provide spaces for education programs and screening for high blood pressure, diabetes and other health problems. The number of examination rooms will double from three to six and separate storage space will be provided in the basement.

Nicosia said she hopes to be able to help more people in the new facility, which will be more than four times the size of the existing trailer.

Rock star Jon Bon Jovi and his wife, Dorothea, are also lending a helping hand.