April 18, 2024
AUGUSTA, Ga. — More than 44,000 residents of Augusta and Richmond County live at or below the poverty level according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Others who are not at poverty level cannot afford basic health or dental insurance even though they may work several jobs to make ends meet.
Two Georgia Baptist Health Care Ministry grant recipients, Miracle Making Ministries, Inc. and Christ Community Health Services of Augusta, Inc., daily meet the needs of this population with either free or significantly reduced health care services.
Miracle Making Ministries provides direct medical care through more than 13,000 patient visits in the past year. Most of these patients are working, many of them having two, three and four jobs, and either have no employer-provided health insurance or face premiums and co-pays that vie for other critical life expenses such as rent and food.
“In Richmond County, more than 30,000 people have zero health insurance,” said Miracle Making Ministries CEO Robert L. Williams. “People fall through the cracks. Sometimes everybody hits a hard spot. We come along and help. We are the access for those who cannot afford copays or insurance. In fact, we have a lot of patients who work at hospitals that can't afford the health insurance. They are our patients.
“Our goal is a clinic where people can walk with dignity into a facility that looks like it's for-profit, with professional staff and physicians. We not only address immediate and critical health care issues, but we also offer spiritual support through praying with patients and sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I dare say we would not exist if it had not been for the tremendous support that we've gotten from Georgia Baptist Healthcare Ministry Foundation over the decades.”
Christ Community Health Services Augusta offers medical and dental care to nearly 10,000 patients, resulting in some 42,000 patient visits to its three locations in 2022. “On a bigger picture, 97% of our patients are at or below 200% of federal poverty guidelines,” said CCHS CEO Don Branum. “Our care really reflects how God made us – we are mind, body, and spirit. By caring for the body through primary healthcare, through behavioral healthcare and spiritual care, we are holistically caring for our patients.
“The grant support we receive from the Georgia Baptist Health Care Ministry Foundation allows thousands of patients in this community to get care that they probably couldn't have gotten before. And on top of that, they're getting the care in an environment that reflects the love of Jesus Christ,” Branum said.
Dental care, according to CCHS Director of Communications Ron Skenes, “is a very important part of what we do. If someone's got some kind of infection, it could impact their overall health. Bad teeth can impact someone's confidence, and their ability to go out and do job interviews. We've heard stories of patients who are embarrassed to go get job interviews and after taking care of their teeth and getting their confidence back, they've gone out, had interviews, and gotten jobs,” Skenes said.
“These clinics are reaching people that otherwise might not be helped in our society,” said Larry Wynn, Executive Director of the Georgia Baptist Health Care Ministry Foundation. “We strongly agree with them that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is about meeting physical needs to pave the way for spiritual life.”
