Houston church partners with UH to bring telehealth clinic to community
It might seem like an unlikely partnership — a university and church coming together to start a medical clinic.
But not to Shainy Varghese, who will head the new University of Houston College of Nursing Health Clinic.
“Nursing is caring,” Varghese said. “Giving back to the community is the calling of a nurse. And it’s the same for a church.”
Ever since writing her doctoral dissertation on the topic in 2009, Varghese has had a vision to create a telehealth clinic. It wasn’t until her connection with St. Paul’s United Methodist Church, however, that a path forward became apparent.
“This has been a dream for a few years now,” Varghese said. “Finally, it’s coming to fruition. A lot of small pieces have come together.”
Now, Varghese has a pastor at her side, volunteers from the congregation and the support of the University of Houston.
The clinic will open Sept. 13.
At its launch, the clinic will be staffed by University of Houston professors and nurses; nursing students will join the staff once it is up and running.
The clinic will offer free, basic health care services once a week.
When patients make an appointment, nursing students will be their first interface, answering questions, coordinating medical records and providing care. They will also facilitate teleheath meetings between patients and doctors when needed.
This clinic, with its focus on accessible health care for those in need, could break the mold, explained the Rev. Andrew Wolfe, associate pastor of congregational care at St. Paul’s.
“We don’t think it’s been done before,” he added. “It’s at least the first in Houston.”
A serendipitous meeting
Both Wolfe and Varghese, a nurse practitioner who heads her own pediatric clinic and professor at UH College of Nursing, are convinced that providence played a role in bringing them together.
Wolfe had been searching for a way to expand what “congregational care” meant at the church.
“I wanted to create something that would affect every stage and age of life,” said Wolfe, who is especially interested in health care and ending the inequity of accessibility to medicine in Houston.
When a mutual friend — Interfaith Ministries of Greater Houston’s Kim Mabry — introduced Varghese and Wolfe in 2018, everything fell into place.
“It was before most people understood or had even heard of telemedicine,” Wolfe said. Still, he was intrigued by Varghese’s vision of how telehealth could reach people in need and address obstacles to care, such as access and transportation. And he had just the place in mind where a clinic could take shape.
The Abraham Station on St. Paul’s campus, a multipurpose building, was only partially in use.
Originally an optometry office, all of the rooms, once dedicated to exams and discussions with doctors, were still there, waiting.
“And it was just the right size,” Wolfe said.
At that time, the space served as a part-time afterschool program and Sunday school location. Another section of the building housed the Emergency Aid Coalition (EAC), a nonprofit, interfaith organization that provides food, clothing and assistance to the working poor.
Varghese immediately saw potential. “People come to the EAC for food and clothing,” she said.
“But they don’t have any health care.”
A clinic could bridge the gap, providing medical attention to those in need, especially homeless individuals.
“We wanted to bring care to them,” Varghese said. “And they’re going there anyway.”
Creating a clinic
Another key piece of the puzzle was the commitment of the University of Houston, Varghese explained. And College of Nursing dean Kathryn Tart led the charge.
“Dean Tart is a visionary leader,” Varghese said.
Tart herself had been hoping to start a nurse managed clinic since a 2015 strategic plan.
“It’s something that the staff and faculty wanted,” Tart said. “But I wondered, ‘How are we going to do it?’ ”
Varghese’s concept, now with the space at St. Paul’s, became the answer.
“University faculty are supposed to guide us into the future,” Tart said. “They’re not looking at what we can do today but what it’s going to be 10 years from now. Our faculty really have an eye to the future.”
The Humana Institute stepped forward to provide funding for medical equipment, and the Texas Methodist Foundation and private donors covered operating costs for the first year.
The University of Houston provided support on a number of levels, from offering security officers to helping with the real estate, Tart added. And the College of Medicine’s Dr. David Buck joined as collaborating physician.
Tart sees more opportunities for the university in the future, including reaching out to social work, pharmacy and medical students. The College of Optometry has already expressed interest in getting on board.
But the first order of business is ensuring that the clinic is sustainable.
“Our goal is starting it, being there, seeking funding for the second year and then continuing to build,” Tart said. “We can be part of the care for this population that absolutely needs it. That’s what we believe in.”
Desire for service
The College of Nursing, the EAC and St. Paul’s all have a similar mission.
“We all have a desire for service,” said Tart. “And we also have a desire to make sure our students are successful.”
By creating the clinic as a teaching tool, nursing students will be better equipped to provide medical care in the future. And by working with the EAC’s clients, they will gain knowledge of working with homeless and working poor populations, Tart explained.
“We want our own students to learn how to care for this population,” she said.
In addition, the new operation can demonstrate the efficacy of a nurse managed clinic, Tart added.
“We’re meeting our strategic plan, and we’re helping the church meet its ministry mission,” she said.
For St. Paul’s, having a clinic on campus is an ideal way to serve neighbors in need.
“We can provide care to the most vulnerable in our society,” said Wolfe. “Taking care of them is more important than we may realize. It’s a basic right to get quality health care.”
Wolfe hopes that the clinic will expand over time, both in the number of days open and services provided. He envisions that the church could, one day, earn a reputation as the place to go for accessible health care.
“My hope is that a family could come into the church to get groceries from the EAC and then pop in to have a doctor’s appointment right there,” he said. “It can be a one-stop shop.”
He also believes that other churches could replicate the model.
“With telemedicine, you can put a clinic anywhere,” Wolfe added. “There are just so many creative ways to make this work — and for the church to be a part of that, now that’s really cool.”