Open Hands Health Center Essay

Nicole Talley R.N., the driving force behind Open Hands Health Center, firmly believes that, “God puts circumstances in all of our lives and expects us to use them to glorify Him and to serve others.” So, in 2010 when God placed a burden on her heart to open a free, Christ-centered clinic for the lower-income, uninsured of Okeechobee County, she was ready. Nicole was born with two holes in her heart and suffered from congestive heart failure before she was a year old. Because her family had no health insurance, Nicole would not have been able to have the life-saving heart surgery that she needed were it not for the efforts of a non-profit group who stepped in to cover all the expenses and heart surgeon, Dr. Denton Cooley, who waived all of his fees. Later in life, Nicole watched as her father, who was on Medicare after being placed on disability due to a back injury, experienced several heart attacks and underwent multiple surgeries. His medical procedures were covered by Medicare, but his deductible was very high, and medications were not …show more content…
explained that all services provided by Open Hands Health Center are free. In order to qualify for medical care at the clinic, the patient must not have health insurance and their income must fall within 200% of the poverty level. This is not as confusing as it sounds. If for example, the poverty level for a family of two were $1,238 per month, and a family earned $1,238 per month, that family would be at 100% or equal to poverty level. If they earned $1,992 per month, they would be at 150% above poverty level, and if they earned $2,656, they would be at 200% above poverty level. In other words, to qualify for the 200% or below criteria, a family could have a gross income of up to twice the amount that is considered the federal poverty level for a family of their size. There are also other factors that can be used to determine a familiy’s qualification, and Stacy urges anyone who needs care to come