“As a Case Manager, I see the needs of our patients on a daily basis. The money donated helps purchase scales for congestive heart failure patients to weigh themselves, which can help prevent readmission. Patients have accidents when they come in or get blood on their clothes. We can provide either pants or a top to help patients get home with dignity. For some families, the drive from a rural town to pick up their loved one can take all of their money. We can provide a gas card to help them get home. By giving to this program, many people can be served.” –Jean, OHH South Case Manager
Patients being admitted to the hospital often have nothing more than the clothes on their backs when they arrive. Once admitted, Case Management identifies their greatest needs and uses the Good Samaritan Fund to provide them with essential items like clothing, medications, gift cards for gas, and scales.
Over the past year, we have seen a drastic increase in patients who lost their jobs, are in-between jobs, or are stuck with a health insurance plan that basically only covers catastrophic events. They desperately need help wrapping their minds around a newfound health crisis and the complicated healthcare system. These are good people who are genuinely trying to do the right thing – stay out of the ER – and get their health back on track. But in the end, how could this ever be possible for these patients without the resources to make it happen?
Patients like John – a Marshallese patient with no insurance that needed full-time care after being discharged. Luckily, he had family in Oklahoma that could care for him at home, but they needed a hospital bed to make this happen. The Good Samaritan Fund helped purchase the hospital bed, providing him with an affordable option to help on his long road to recovery.
Patients like Evelyn – a self-pay patient who was at risk of falling at home but could not afford the cost of a walker. The Good Samaritan Fund was able to provide her with a standard bariatric rolling walker to help ensure that she can walk around safely in her house.
The Good Samaritan Fund is like a ‘just in time’ emergency fund that patients didn’t know they had, and it can benefit them in tremendous ways. From providing a blood pressure cuff for home, getting expensive prescriptions filled, or a gas card to make the long trip home, patients cry with tears of gratitude over something that most of us may take for granted but is such a blessing to them. These small acts of kindness help alleviate the worry about affording necessary items and allow patients to focus on healing, all thanks to the support of our generous donors.