Indiana Clinic Lets Patients Work Off Bills

A low-cost health care clinic in Goshen, Ind., has come up with a business plan that allows patients to pay for treatment with something other than money. At the Maple City Health Care Center, patients can help pay off their medical bills by performing community service.

Last fall, when the unemployment rate in Elkhart County, Indiana, topped 10 percent, clinic workers began noticing that patients weren’t showing up for appointments. Turns out they couldn’t even come up with a few bucks for an office visit.

So James Gingrich, the clinic’s medical director, decided to tap his patients’ skills and resources instead. The clinic began offering $10 an hour toward health care if a patient volunteered at another non-profit organization.

Stephany Celis, new mom to son Bradon Alexander, wondered how, without health insurance, she would pay for her prenatal care seven months ago. That’s when she heard about the clinic’s More Than Money program.

Celis volunteered at a low-cost health care agency to pay for all of her prenatal care.

“If I have a chance to go back in the future, I probably will,” Celis says.

Just down the street from the clinic, 35-year-old Maria Arellano is volunteering by restocking locally grown organic apples in the produce section at a co-op. She says the More than Money program has been a lifeline.

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