We are a ministry first that provides healthcare

May 3, 2018

“Victory Health Partners started in 2000. My wife and I were doing an overseas medical mission trip in Venezuela. God said we don’t have to do things overseas, we need to do this in our own backyard. Our clinic for uninsured adults who don’t have healthcare opened in 2003. We are a ministry first that provides healthcare. People said it couldn’t be done.

Our goal is to provide a service that reaches the spirit and heals the body. We give hope and better choices to people who have lost hope. There are many who have fallen through the cracks and God finds a way to meet their needs through His people.

When we were dreaming about the clinic, this building was on the market for $850,000. We had no money and didn’t want to start in debt. We prayed over it for two years and God brought the right people to us. Infirmary Health leases it to us for $1 a year. That was exactly what we had been praying for. Volunteers helped upgrade and renovate the building. It started 12 years ago with me and nurse practitioners. People came forward and wanted to help patients and we now have over 19,000 patient encounters a year. I could never have dreamed how it would grow and how much the medical community would get involved. We cover sleep apnea, wound care, neurology, OB-GYN, eye care, and dental. We have a surgery clinic and counseling services, too. There are 150 specialists in the area who see our patients for just a copay. Specialty care is out of reach for so many people because they can’t afford it even if they need it. I love to hear patients come back and say they treated me just like anyone else. There is dignity of just being treated like someone with insurance. So many people who are juggling rent, gas and food. Medical care is the last on the list and they don’t see a doctor until there is a crisis. We can usually get people signed up and in for an appointment the day they call us.

Patients come here from Mobile or surrounding counties in Mississippi, Alabama and Florida. They can’t have insurance or other medical benefits and have a gross income less than three times the Federal Poverty Guidelines. All pay $35-55 for a copay but everything they that day is covered in this, including labs. Most of the services are free but this is not a free clinic because we want people to own their healthcare. Only half of our budget comes from fees and we raise the other half of the money, $600,000 a year. It is a challenge to raise that much money, but it is God’s economy and it works.

60-70 volunteers help us run this clinic each week and volunteers give over 60,000 volunteer hours each year. It is a community supporting a community effort to solve a community problem. There is no government involvement. We go home tired but we go home blessed.”

1 Comment

  1. Dawn Bratcher

    Yours is truly a God-given ministry that serves others right from your hearts! May God continue touching the hearts of others to contribute their time and money to assist those less fortunate.
    Blessings to you & your wonderful assistants,
    Dawn Bratcher

    Reply

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