Baltimore City Paper Online

Without Mercy

September 11 - September 17, 2002

When the Nose called Mercy Medical Center to find out what it knew about the closure of the New Song Family Health Center in Sandtown-Winchester, we received a brief statement via e-mail from the hospital's media relations office calling the closure "unfortunate."Unfortunate, indeed, we thought, for the thousands of low-income individuals for whom New Song was the best health-care option. Since 1996, the clinic on North Fulton Avenue served just about anyone who was sick, insured or not. Now that New Song has closed, the patients with insurance will merely be inconvenienced by having to find new primary- and/or family-care providers; for those who are uninsured, however, the situation is more serious.

"Forty percent of the adults we serve don't have health insurance," says Dr. Jonathan Clemens, a pediatrician who worked part time at New Song. "For those who are uninsured, they're worried. They don't know where they can go to get the care they need." Clemens says that Shepherd's Clinic on St. Paul Street has agreed to take New Song's uninsured patients who live in the 21217 zip code; for the rest, though, "there's a lot of anxiety."

After a six-year partnership with Mercy (which, in the hospital's 1999 annual report, Mercy touted as an attempt to fill the "need for community based health care" and an effort "to ensure that the Sandtown-Winchester community received a comprehensive and holistic approach to health care"), Clemens says that the hospital no longer wanted to partner with New Song, which is a branch of New Song Urban Ministries. He says that, earlier this summer, it informed the clinic that it would need to find a new source of financial support.

New Song quickly applied to partner with a federally qualified health center, which would mean an influx of federal money to continue its programs. Clemens says the New Song staff was "optimistic about this grant because of the number of uninsured patients we serve being needy." However, on Aug. 22, the clinic staff learned that the grant application had been turned down; the clinic was forced to end its health-care services Aug. 30.

According to Mercy's prepared statement, "In recent years, New Song has been seeing a higher number of uninsured patients. Despite some funding from Mercy, additional funding was needed to care for these individuals. One solution might have been a federal grant; however, the application was denied." The statement indicates that the hospital intends to "remain committed to the community" and "make every effort to address the health care needs of the people of Baltimore city."

For the month of September, Clemens told the Nose, the staff at New Song will be available from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. to answer questions, take calls, and help former patients fill out forms and find new doctors. "I'm not sure what's going to happen in October, though," Clemens says. Unless the clinic finds a benefactor or a new health-care center to partner with, it will most likely remain shuttered.

When the Nose called Mercy Medical Center to find out what it knew about the closure of the New Song Family Health Center in Sandtown-Winchester, we received a brief statement via e-mail from the hospital's media relations office calling the closure "unfortunate."Unfortunate, indeed, we thought, for the thousands of low-income individuals for whom New Song was the best health-care option. Since 1996, the clinic on North Fulton Avenue served just about anyone who was sick, insured or not. Now that New Song has closed, the patients with insurance will merely be inconvenienced by having to find new primary- and/or family-care providers; for those who are uninsured, however, the situation is more serious. "Forty percent of the adults we serve don't have health insurance," says Dr. Jonathan Clemens, a pediatrician who worked part time at New Song. "For those who are uninsured, they're worried. They don't know where they can go to get the care they need." Clemens says that Shepherd's Clinic on St. Paul Street has agreed to take New Song's uninsured patients who live in the 21217 zip code; for the rest, though, "there's a lot of anxiety."

After a six-year partnership with Mercy (which, in the hospital's 1999 annual report, Mercy touted as an attempt to fill the "need for community based health care" and an effort "to ensure that the Sandtown-Winchester community received a comprehensive and holistic approach to health care"), Clemens says that the hospital no longer wanted to partner with New Song, which is a branch of New Song Urban Ministries. He says that, earlier this summer, it informed the clinic that it would need to find a new source of financial support.

New Song quickly applied to partner with a federally qualified health center, which would mean an influx of federal money to continue its programs. Clemens says the New Song staff was "optimistic about this grant because of the number of uninsured patients we serve being needy." However, on Aug. 22, the clinic staff learned that the grant application had been turned down; the clinic was forced to end its health-care services Aug. 30.

According to Mercy's prepared statement, "In recent years, New Song has been seeing a higher number of uninsured patients. Despite some funding from Mercy, additional funding was needed to care for these individuals. One solution might have been a federal grant; however, the application was denied." The statement indicates that the hospital intends to "remain committed to the community" and "make every effort to address the health care needs of the people of Baltimore city."

For the month of September, Clemens told the Nose, the staff at New Song will be available from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. to answer questions, take calls, and help former patients fill out forms and find new doctors. "I'm not sure what's going to happen in October, though," Clemens says. Unless the clinic finds a benefactor or a new health-care center to partner with, it will most likely remain shuttered.

Baltimore City Paper Online