{"id":72457,"date":"2023-11-03T10:01:27","date_gmt":"2023-11-03T16:01:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/?p=72457"},"modified":"2023-11-04T12:11:54","modified_gmt":"2023-11-04T18:11:54","slug":"a-new-era-for-dawn-health-a-free-student-run-aurora-center-for-uninsured-patients","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/a-new-era-for-dawn-health-a-free-student-run-aurora-center-for-uninsured-patients\/","title":{"rendered":"A new era dawns for DAWN Health, a free, student-run Aurora health center for uninsured patients"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"Libier
Libier “Libby” Price, right, is a nurse practitioner at DAWN Health. She has deep bonds with her patients, including Juana Lopez, left, who says of Libby: “She is such a good person, such a good doctor.” Juana has been receiving care at the Aurora health center for years and is grateful to the team for helping her get regular medical care and health insurance. Photo by Cyrus McCrimmon, for UCHealth.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A nursing student who is fluent in Spanish greets her patient warmly as the woman arrives at a beautiful health center for uninsured people in Aurora.<\/p>\n

Yamila Diaz was in danger in her home country of Uruguay after working as a police officer there. She now works both day and night shifts for UPS and Amazon in Colorado and is seeking asylum in the United States.<\/p>\n

Yamila is grateful when she arrives at DAWN Health<\/a> on the Anschutz Medical Campus<\/a> in Aurora and finds that nursing student Claudia Martinez Antillon will be serving as her medical interpreter for this Tuesday evening primary care clinic.<\/p>\n

Martinez Antillon has assisted Yamila at previous visits.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s so amazing when someone greets you in your own language,\u201d said Yamila, 34.<\/p>\n

Before moving to Colorado a year ago, Yamila was working at a construction job in Florida with her husband. She got an infection from a maggot bite and needed medical help when her elbow started to swell. At a Florida clinic, she experienced the sting of discrimination.<\/p>\n

\u201cA woman said I didn\u2019t speak English, so she couldn\u2019t help me,\u201d Yamila recalled. \u201cAnother woman said, \u2018Hey, you\u2019re going to see her.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Yamila eventually received care that day and is taking English classes now. But the degrading experience stuck with her and provides a sharp contrast to the sensitive, attentive care she is receiving at DAWN, which stands for \u201cDedicated to Aurora\u2019s Wellness and Needs.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Yamila
Yamila Diaz, left, during a visit to DAWN Health. Yamila is receiving care from medical student, Dakota Hitchcock, center, as nursing student and volunteer Spanish interpreter, Claudia Martinez Antillon, right, assists with Yamila’s visit to the Aurora heath center for uninsured patients. Photo by Cyrus McCrimmon, for UCHealth.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

New era dawns for DAWN Health at the Anschutz Medical Campus in Aurora<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Students at the University of Colorado School of Medicine<\/a> joined with Aurora-based community leaders to create the free clinic in 2015. And now, a new era is dawning for DAWN.<\/p>\n

\"Patient
Patient Sam Asaah, right, receives help from volunteer care coordinator, Viviane Tran, who plans to become a nurse, loves DAWN. “It\u2019s such a patient-centered space where everyone works to ensure the best quality of care for patients from differing backgrounds,” Tran said. Photo by Cyrus McCrimmon, for UCHealth<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Students from various schools still run the center with help from a medical director, volunteer doctors, a nurse practitioner and an executive director. But DAWN now has a new home at the aptly named University of Colorado Anschutz Health and Wellness Center<\/a>.<\/p>\n

DAWN used to operate out of a community center in an Aurora commercial district. In the evenings, volunteers would set up chairs to create a waiting room, convert rooms into exam space and turn the center into a temporary clinic. (Read about an ophthalmology clinic at the old center<\/a>.) This spring, DAWN opened its doors for evening clinics at the sleek Health and Wellness Center.<\/p>\n

Patients now get to see their health care providers in large, well-outfitted exam rooms with colorful art on the walls. Although the old setting had its charms and was popular with patients, the new clinic feels much more official and gives more dignity and privacy to patients.<\/p>\n

\u201cI loved our old location. It has a warm place in my heart. But the new location has a lot more space for us to grow,\u201d said Scott Maclean, one of DAWN\u2019s five student directors.<\/p>\n

Since moving, DAWN already has expanded its services, and leaders hope to keep offering more help to patients.<\/p>\n

Currently, DAWN providers use about 20 exam rooms on busy clinic nights, and about 800 patients identify doctors at DAWN Health as their primary care providers.<\/p>\n

\"Patient
Patient Sam Asaah, left, meets with Viviane Tran, a volunteer care coordinator. Care coordinators meet with each patient to go over future appointments and to offer assistance with challenges ranging from lack of food to housing instability to transportation challenges. Photo by Cyrus McCrimmon, for UCHealth.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

DAWN Health provides critical care for uninsured patients thanks to generosity of donors and many volunteers<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Student providers like Martinez Antillon volunteer their time. Five volunteer student directors help run DAWN. Along with Maclean, who is getting a Master\u2019s and plans to apply to medical school soon, they are Tori Hoelscher, a medical school applicant, Jake Plaisted, a third-year medical student, Sarah Seiwald, a fourth-year medical student and Katie Palmer, a physician assistant school applicant.<\/p>\n

\"Jake
Jake Plaisted, right, is one of the student directors of DAWN Health. Here, he consults with nurse practitioner, Libby Price, before a Tuesday night primary care clinic begins. Photo by Cyrus McCrimmon, for UCHealth.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Through its extensive community benefits program, UCHealth donates access to online medical records through EPIC and the My Health Connection app. UCHealth also provides patients with free lab processing, scans, x-rays and other radiology services at UCHealth University of Colorado Hospita<\/a>l next door. In addition, if patients speak a language other than Spanish, and an in-person interpreter like Martinez Antillon is not available, DAWN providers can use UCHealth\u2019s iPad video interpretation services. Along with many Spanish speakers, the clinic serves African immigrants, many of whom speak Twi, a Ghanaian dialect. They also serve patients who speak a Micronesian language, Chuukese.<\/p>\n

Altogether, UCHealth\u2019s contributions added up to more than $500,000 last year.<\/p>\n

DAWN offers primary care clinics every Tuesday evening. Each of these clinics depends on between 25 and 40 volunteers, including medical students who are seeing patients, college students or pre-professional students, who do everything from greeting and escorting patients to doing blood draws and providing other lab services. In addition, other volunteers serve as care coordinators. They assist with follow-up care and connecting patients with other services in the community.<\/p>\n

DAWN also provides an array of specialty clinics on other nights.<\/h2>\n
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How to get help<\/strong><\/p>\n

Are you an uninsured adult who lives in Aurora and needs medical care?<\/p>\n

Learn more about DAWN Health<\/a><\/p>\n

Patients seeking help can call 303-800-9677. Leave a message, and a clinic volunteer will call you back.<\/p>\n

Learn more about community resources<\/a>.<\/div>\n

These include:<\/p>\n