Patient Testimonals

Sunyata Palmer

Life has not been easy for Sunyata Palmer, who recently found herself needing a broad range of behavioral health and social services in order to maintain her sobriety and get through life.

When she moved to Fort Bragg she was referred to Mendocino Coast Clinics by another community health clinic saying that MCC "has a good reputation."

A recovering alcoholic also suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and diagnosed as Bi-polar, Sunyata was afraid she might "fall through the cracks again" having begun life in a commune characterized by "chaos, insanity and creativity." 

She was ready to make changes in her life and needed a network of support services to help her achieve her goals.

Mendocino Coast Clinics recently received a grant that enabled it to hire a Behavioral Medicine Case Manager, to better assist people like Sunyata, who have a variety of needs which the community health center cannot address alone. 

In addition to providing direct care for her, MCC staff linked Sunyata to a variety of other social services providers, critical to her recovery. 

While living on a small General Assistance grant and food stamps, she is camping in a tent with her 17 year old companion cat, waiting for a voucher that will hopefully enable her to find dry and warm housing before winter.

"I am blessed to live in a town with as much as this community has to offer", said Sunyata, who manages to maintain a cheerful and thankful attitude in spite of her challenging circumstances. 

She is full of praises and gratitude for the MCC staff, who she describes as "doing the extra humanely".

Please help Mendocino Coast Clinics continue to provide outstanding care to our patients, who may not have the resources needed to provide for their care.

Thank you for caring and your continued support.

New patient credits MCC with saving her life!

Mary Muto found herself in the position 47 million Americans fear most. She had changed jobs and was uninsured until her new health coverage kicked in.

Mary had an allergic reaction to mushrooms in her food and was quite sick for a day.  For the next couple of days, she "felt weird" and dizzy and finally on Monday decided to call her health providers to get an appointment.  None of the three health care providers she usually saw were available and she was eventually referred to Mendocino Coast Clinics.

Since she thought it might be a problem with her medication, MCC staff squeezed her into see a provider. He determined that the real problem was that Mary's blood pressure was extremely high and he wanted her to go to the hospital.

Mary burst into tears, fearing a trip to the hospital would be expensive. If she could not afford medical insurance right now, how could she pay off a trip to the Emergency Department?

Staff then transferred her Dawn Hofberg, PA, to see if her blood pressure could be monitored and controlled by medication at MCC.

"Staff were so professional, kind and caring, yet it was clear they were following the rules.  They told me if this did not work quickly, they would take me to the hospital immediately," said Mary.

Mary had an extra worry nagging in the back of her brain.  Her Mom, a nurse in good health, had died at the age 51 with a blood pressure which was exactly what Mary's was that day!

Dawn and Sophia Yanez, MA, stayed close to Mary, monitoring her progress.  And in fact, Dawn stayed after MCC closed to assure it was safe for Mary to go home.  The next day Dawn called her at home to check on her.

In addition to the fine care Mary received, she was very impressed with compassion and professionalism of all the staff she encountered.  Mary appreciated how the MCC team quickly identified her problem and clearly explained everything happening to her.  She made Mendocino Coast Clinics her medical home.
 

It takes a village to save a life

Working as a caregiver, Kate Dougherty she had no insurance and found herself so ill with breathing issues and coughing, she went to Mendocino Coast Clinics without an appointment. 

While her primary physician was unavailable, she was seen fairly quickly by Tara McLeer, MD, who gave her sample medications she needed and told her to return if she was not better. 

Kate was not better and Dr. McLeer immediately wanted to send her to the hospital when Kate became extremely concerned about the costs.  Albert Anderson, Patient Advocate, assessed her finances, to see if she qualified for publicly funded insurance coverage and she was on the borderline.  Kate decided to go to the emergency department, where she was x-rayed and sent home to recuperate. 

The next day her friend Gayle Heiss called and discovered that Kate could not talk.  After hearing of her condition from his wife, Dr. Larry Heiss called her back and offered to meet her at home with an ambulance, recognizing that her receiving oxygen was critical at this point. 

After one night at MCDH, Kate was ambulanced to a hospital in Santa Rosa, where she had surgery and spent an additional 6 nights before she was able to return home. 

Later, as she struggled to get her paperwork completed in a timely manner, the patient advocate helped her with the forms to get the cost of her medicines reduced, one of which costs $600 for 2 weeks. She also told Kate of an important deadline needed to be met in the application process for publicly funded health insurance.

When Kate had not heard from County Medical Services Program in two months for approval of payment for the medicine she was taking, Albert referred her to a nurse, who determined that the original Treatment Authorization Request, which the physician in Santa Rosa requested for medication approval, had not been registered.  She expedited it and it was approved in a few short days, so Kate no longer has to pay for it. 

"You all not only saved my life with dignity and respect, everyone there facilitated the healing process with a kind attention, care and efficiency which relieved stress and engendered trust," said Kate.

Return to top