Knoxville, Tenn., Health Clinic Loses Major Funding Source. - Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News

By Kristi L. Nelson, The Knoxville News-Sentinel, Tenn. Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News

Dec. 2--Interfaith Health Clinic is going to need a little extra faith to get through what could be a financial crisis.

The clinic, which serves the 'working poor' and uninsured of Knoxville, has learned one of its major contributors -- citing a 'bad economy' -- will no longer provide financial assistance after Jan. 1, 2004. The contributor in question was not identified.

Interfaith could lose $120,000-$160,000 -- as much as 10 percent of its $1.4 million monetary operating budget, said Nina Bowling, head of development and public relations for the clinic.

'We will have to make cuts in direct patient services at a time when demands for our services are dramatically increasing,' Bowling said Monday.

Interfaith, founded in 1991, provides primary health care as well as dental care, mental health counseling and prescription medications for Knox County area residents who don't have access to or can't afford health insurance. The only facility of its kind in the area, Interfaith provides almost 20,000 patient visits a year and has served as a model for programs in other states.

Bowling said the loss of that contributor, which has supported Interfaith financially since its inception, will be 'devastating' to Interfaith patients if services are cut.

Too, she said, it will cost the system money. A 1999 Maryville College study showed Interfaith Health Clinic had a $40 million impact on the community, Bowling said.

'Without Interfaith, many of our patients would rely on emergency rooms, the most expensive form of health care, for their health-care needs,' Bowling said. 'Many more would simply go without health care altogether due to the rising costs associated with a visit to the doctor.'

Even before this blow, Interfaith's resources had been strained. Although returning patients to the clinic are usually seen within 24 hours, the waiting time for new patients this summer stretched to seven months. With the September hire of Dr. Tara Sturdivant as medical director, waiting time for new patients is now about five weeks, Bowling said. Yet if patient care is cut, staff will probably have to cut the number of appointments, she said.

Bowling said the clinic -- which relies on volunteer physicians, the support of hospitals and other health-care organizations, and donations from community organizations and individuals -- is issuing an appeal to the community to help 'make up the difference' of the lost contribution.

'We need the community as a whole to realize what a valuable asset Interfaith is,' she said, adding that although many of the 43 million uninsured Americans have no option for affordable health care, 'those working without insurance in our community have Interfaith.

'Where would these people go for medical attention if we weren't here?'

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(c) 2003, The Knoxville News-Sentinel, Tenn. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.