When her husband retired and they went on Medicare, Cindy faced costs of up to $140 each month for insulin alone. The first time she left a Great Lakes Bay Health Center pharmacy with a 90-day supply of insulin for less than $10, she sat in her car and cried. “I don’t have to worry about do I pay a bill, do I eat or do I buy my medicine.”
Residents across 16 Michigan counties receive quality care through Great Lakes Bay Health Centers, regardless of ability to pay. With sliding fees for those who are uninsured or underinsured, family members, friends, neighbors, and co-workers and employees don’t have to go without medical care.
Great Lakes Bay Health Centers started in 1969 with a grant to provide care to migrant workers. In the mid 80s, its first health center opened in Saginaw.
It now serves about 54,000 patients a year in centers located in communities and schools. Its mobile medical and dental units expand the reach.
“If we could serve everyone who has a need for care, we would quadruple in size,” said Jeff Larsen, chief growth and development officer. “There is so much more happening than most of us know. If you have kids in school, they likely have kids in their classrooms who wear the same clothes multiple days, who often don’t have food and don’t have medical or dental care.
“Health care should not be accessible only to the middle class or the elite,” Larsen said. “Health care should be a fundamental right for everyone.”
Great Lakes Health Centers provide care such as family practice, dental, lab and pharmacy services, child and adolescent psychiatry, immunizations, family planning, acute care, physical therapy, and eye care.
Impact on a Personal Level
Ysabel’s pregnancy, which she’d been told couldn’t happen, was complicated. The staff at Great Lakes Bay Health Centers gave her the physical and emotional support she needed to get through it. And after Nova was born, a nurse made regular visits to them at home, helping them have a successful, healthy first year.
Connie Genow, a community health worker at Bay City Central High School works with students referred by school staff. When one student came to her with a plan to hurt himself, she “talked to him like a grandma,” brought his mom in, and set him up with a Great Lakes Bay Health Centers counselor.
William M. had lived in pain for years from arthritis that fused his spine. Within 10 visits to a Great Lakes Bay Health Centers physical therapist, he was managing his pain and could pick up his daughter again.
Collaboration with the Michigan Health Improvement Alliance
Representatives of Great Lakes Bay Health Centers have served on Michigan Health Improvement Alliance task forces, including those for patient safety, the opioid crisis and financial stability.
“A lot of people would stay in their silos, if they could,” Larsen said. “The Michigan Health Improvement Alliance has critical conversations, bringing people together and building relationships.”
The Great Lakes Bay Health Centers also are actively engaged in the recently launched “Verify 5” campaign, which educates older patients and their caregivers about the dangers of medication overload.
Dr. Brenda Coughlin, President and CEO of Great Lakes Bay Health Centers, also serves on the Michigan Health Improvement Alliance Board of Directors.