Bishop Stika blesses the doctor’s office on wheels, which will provide relief to the medically underserved
RIBBON-CUTTING for new clinic Bishop Richard F. Stika and Sister Mariana Koonce, RSM, MD, have scissors at the ready for the ribbon-cutting on the new St. Mary’s Legacy Clinic. On the bishop’s left is Knoxville Mayor Madeline Rogero. They are surrounded by Sisters of Mercy and Sisters of Mercy of Alma, Mich., who attended the dedication along with some 100 others. Photo by Dan McWilliams
After more than a year of planning and anticipation, the Diocese of Knoxville dedicated the region’s newest mobile medical clinic Sept. 11 during a ceremony attended by diocesan partners and community supporters.
Bishop Richard F. Stika blessed the St. Mary’s Legacy Clinic, a 40-foot-long family doctor’s office on wheels, which was dedicated as the ceremonial ribbon was cut.
Bishop Stika led the ribbon-cutting and was joined by Sister Mariana Koonce, RSM, MD, Sister Mary Martha Naber, RSM, other Religious Sisters of Mercy and Knoxville Mayor Madeline Rogero.
Sister Mariana, director of the diocese’s Health Services Office, will be the mobile clinic’s medical director and family-practice physician.
The mobile clinic will be owned and operated by the Diocese of Knoxville and will extend the healing ministry of Jesus to East Tennessee, continuing the work of the Religious Sisters of Mercy, who opened St. Mary’s Hospital in 1930.
The mobile clinic, built by LifeLine Mobile of Columbus, Ohio, was built under the direction of Sister Mariana and was made financially possible through a grant provided by the St. Mary’s Legacy Foundation of East Tennessee. Dee Management Consulting provided exterior graphics and consulting on the clinic project.
The clinic will travel to remote communities across East Tennessee, providing much-needed relief to many medically underserved families living in rural areas of the diocese. Medical care will be free of charge and available to anyone regardless of age, gender, or religious affiliation.
“I look upon our clinic as a family-physician practice on wheels,” said Sister Mariana. “This mobile clinic will allow us to provide non-emergency primary medical care to those who are most in need. And this will be provided free of charge through the financial support of the St. Mary’s Legacy Foundation.”
Bishop Stika praised the mobile clinic and its mission of providing medical care to the underserved areas of the diocese. Reminding those gathered for the dedication of his prayer that we all become the face and hands of Jesus Christ, he said the clinic is an example of this selfless act of love and service to our neighbors.
“We are all aware that there are parts of East Tennessee, which the Diocese of Knoxville covers, where there is very limited health care. This is one of the ways that the Catholic Church and the St. Mary’s Legacy Foundation can reach out to those people who are in need of health care and can help them with some of the basic services,” Bishop Stika said.
The clinic will focus on 24 of the 36 counties in the Diocese of Knoxville, stretching from the Cumberland Plateau to the North Carolina border and from the Kentucky border to the Georgia state line. The 24 counties make up a medically underserved area, according to the federal Health Resources and Services Administration and include Bledsoe, Campbell, Carter, Claiborne, Cocke, Cumberland, Fentress, Grainger, Hancock, Hawkins, Johnson, Loudon, McMinn, Marion, Meigs, Monroe, Morgan, Pickett, Rhea, Roane, Scott, Sequatchie, Unicoi and Union.
“The legacy of St. Mary’s can now extend into communities that don’t have the resources to provide the care that the medically underserved desperately need,” said John Deinhart, staff officer for the St. Mary’s Legacy Foundation of East Tennessee, which will fund the mobile clinic.
Sister Mariana emphasized that those who will be able to receive care at no charge through the mobile clinic are those who can’t access health care now because they don’t have insurance, or the ability to pay or may not have transportation or access to physicians.
Sister Mariana Koonce, RSM, MD, prays during the dedication service for the St. Mary’s Legacy Clinic. The clinic was built under Sister Mariana’s direction and made financially possible through a grant provided by the St. Mary’s Legacy Foundation of East Tennessee. Photo by Dan McWilliams
“The Legacy of St. Mary’s is a legacy of faith, of faith in Jesus Christ, and of expressing that faith through the care that we give to others — our brothers and sisters in Christ no matter what faith or religion they have. It’s a legacy of working together with the whole community. And it’s also a legacy of good, physical, quality, compassionate care to whomever walks in the door to receive it,” said Sister Mariana.
Sister Mariana is continuing to identify community collaborators throughout the diocese to work with in providing health care through the mobile clinic.
The clinic will offer two examination rooms, a nurse station, laboratory area and an undercarriage wheel chair lift. The 40-foot-long doctor’s office on wheels will be able to travel to almost any rural location within the diocese.
Initially, the clinic will offer primary-care services, including urgent-care needs like acute illnesses and minor injuries as well as chronic conditions such as high blood pressure and diabetes. Patient education and disease prevention will be a strong focus for the staff of the clinic, which will not be able to provide narcotics, dental care, vision care, pregnancy-related or emergency services.
“What we’re looking for are existing organizations or groups of people who want us to come into their community. They would provide a building, a place for patients to wait while receiving care, a place for us to park, and maybe some local volunteers who know the area,” she said. “It will be out to the rural areas where we will be going.”
Sister Mariana said she has been collaborating with Remote Area Medical and the Free Medical Clinic of America on how to best serve as many East Tennesseans as possible. She said the St. Mary’s mobile medical clinic will not be offering dental or vision care, which is offered by other free clinics.
“We are all aware that there are parts of East Tennessee, which the Diocese of Knoxville covers, where there is very limited health care. This is one of the ways that the Catholic Church and the St. Mary’s Legacy Foundation can reach out to those people who are in need of health care and can help them with some of the basic services,” Bishop Stika said.
Bishop Stika emphasized that the mobile clinic is an extension of St. Mary’s Hospital that the Sisters of Mercy started with the help of Catholic community leaders during the Great Depression. Now, instead of patients seeking medical care at the hospital, the Catholic Church and the diocese’s new mobile clinic will be bringing health care to their communities.
“This is an extension, the only extension, of that hospital that served so faithfully for so many years. This shows the Catholic Church is still about health care,” Bishop Stika said.
The clinic is expected to begin serving rural communities in the diocese by December. Communities or organizations wanting to invite the mobile clinic to their area should contact Sister Mariana at the Diocese of Knoxville, 865-584-3307.
