Neighborhood Health Initiative (NHI)
Project Description
The MT-WWAMI Foot Care Clinic is a student-run, screen-and-refer clinic that serves the guests at the Warming Center. The Warming Center is Bozeman’s only homeless shelter, which is completely funded by community members and operated by HRDC, which is a social services and safety net non-profit organization. The Foot Care Clinic's goal is to keep our community on its feet by providing free, basic foot care, screening and education, with hopes of bridging a welcoming gateway to healthcare for the guests staying at the shelter.
Location
Montana
Clinic Schedule
Every-other Monday evening, from 7:30pm-9:30pm during the Warming Center operating months of November through March.
Organization
Clinical
Contact Information
Website Link
Please take a moment to look through the HRDC's mission, goals and projects.
Clinic Flow
We start our clinic by setting up our two foot care and vaccination stations as well as a signup sheet at the front desk. We work in two-person teams, giving each guest at least 30 minutes of care, and try to serve at least 8 guests an evening between the two stations. Vaccinations are on a first come, first serve basis and one two-person team operates that station. We usually have one to two more volunteers to talk to guests and get them interested in foot care, vaccines and healthcare, or just to talk about what ever they want to talk about! We usually start each guest encounter with vitals and a health questionnaire that we have developed to track the health of our underserved community. After that, we get to wash and take care of their feet! Once we are done and their feet are scrubbed, we present the guest to our preceptor for the evening so that they can check to make sure we did not miss anything. The patient is then given a new, dry pair of wool socks and they are off on their way!
Tips and Reminders
We will post resources here to further your education and understanding of the community that we serve. Podcast: The Curbsiders Internal Medicine - Episode #216 "Homeless healthcare with Stefan Kertesz, MD"
Provider Information
Dr. Gerry Groggel - gcg22@uw.edu
Types of Volunteers Needed
School of Medicine