Touching lives with compassion
Pioneer Medical Foundation would like to share one of our most recent success stories at one of our community outreach clinics, and acknowledge our partners for their help. In October of 2019, we received several supplies through the Advent Health Wesley Chapel Foundation. They were donated for our Annual Health Fair, however, due to bad weather we had to cancel. We are still fortunate to have received supplies from Advent Health, as our community outreach clinics have many patients that are in need of these resources. On a warm December afternoon, Susan came into our free clinic to seek medical attention for intractable pain to her right leg. Susan is homeless and lives on the streets with her loving husband. As they checked in we noticed all the bags and belongings they had on their wheelchair. This was their mode of transportation from location to location. What caught my eye was the state of the wheelchair. All the tires were deflated, you could hear the metal grind on the floor, her shoes where torn on her right foot, which was the side that didn’t have a wheel.
She began telling me about her right foot pain that had been progressively getting worse over the past month. Susan noted she had begun taking Motrin and was beginning to have abdominal pain. During the visit we realized she was using her right foot to paddle the wheelchair forward, which was causing her to rub her shoe on the ground. We had to fix the root cause of her leg pain which was her broken wheelchair.
Fortunately, we managed to dash back to our corporate office to get a wheelchair and take it back to the clinic. We assembled a brand new wheelchair for her, to be able to sit and wheel around on her own without having to use her right leg. Not only was this a great addition to her care, but it also allowed her husband to push her and their luggage around with minimal effort.
Our main goal is not only to provide medical care, but also to treat every patient with a holistic approach. For patients in similar situations, it is life changing to provide these simple resources. Thanks to Advent Health, we were able to provide Susan a new wheelchair, and give her and her husband a better quality of life. After receiving the wheelchair Susan was in tears and has repeatedly thanked us on return visits.