Kellogg Offers Hope

Kellogg partners with local free clinic to provide eye care

Among the patients & ophthalmologists who participated in the open clinic were, from top: Terry Petrowski and Paula Anne Newman-Casey, M.D.; Alice Freeman and Harjeet Kaur, M.D.; and Michael Smith-Wheelock, M.D., and Denise Whitfield.

Kellogg recently hosted its first eye care clinic for patients of the Hope Clinic, which provides free medical services to low income children and adults who do not have medical insurance. The clinic was held in early November with 36 patients—from a waiting list of over 60—receiving the eye care they needed.

"Dr. Lichter felt it was an opportunity for us to give back to the community," says Michael W. Smith- Wheelock, M.D., Medical Director of the Eye Center. "When the faculty discussed hosting this clinic, there was overwhelming support."

The Hope Clinic was founded in 1982 as a Saturday morning clinic and, by 2010, had grown to provide over 8,571 medical visits, 4,621 dental visits, and access to basic but much-needed prescriptions.

Dr. Smith-Wheelock chose fellow Paula Anne Newman-Casey, M.D., who is passionate about community health, to lead the effort. After completing her residency at Kellogg in 2011, Dr. Newman-Casey was accepted into U-M's Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholars Master's Program in Health and Healthcare Research, which teaches research methodology skills as a means of finding solutions for public policy, community health, and clinical practice issues.

"There has been an outpouring of support for this clinic," says Dr. Newman-Casey, who worked with the team at Hope to coordinate the effort. "I'm impressed with the number of people who have volunteered. The Hope Clinic is a wonderful organization that does a lot for the community."

More than 20 Kellogg employees—including physicians, residents, technicians, and other staff members—took time to give something back, and even more have volunteered to staff upcoming clinics to be held in January, March, and May.