TO WHAT YOUR BODY

for embryo preservation, something they needed to do before she started chemotherapy. Not ready to give up, a family member set up a GoFundMe page and quickly helped raise the money for the treatment. Two days after Olsen’s embryo preservation procedure, she started her first of six rounds of chemotherapy.

In addition to chemotherapy every three weeks, Olsen will undergo surgery in December and start radiation in January. She also will continue Herceptin infusions every three weeks, targeted at HER2 receptors, and she will take the drug Tamoxifen when her treatment regimen is complete to prevent her cancer from coming back. Because chemotherapy is exhausting, she is currently on leave from her 11th year of teaching. She hopes to be back at Fargo South, where she teaches English, around Thanksgiving and work around her surgery in December.

If there is one thing Olsen is passionate about, it’s knowing your own body and seeking care if you suspect something isn’t right. “Breast cancer is not just a disease in older women. Young women need to be adamant about their health, too. Do self-exams. Listen to what your body is telling you. Don’t think because you’re young, you can’t get cancer. We are all at risk.”

With a positive attitude and lots of loving support from her husband, family and her care team at Roger Maris Cancer Center, Olsen is determined to get though her treatment and is looking forward to returning to her teaching career and a bright future with Nate.

FAMILY HEALTHCARE CLINIC PROVIDES AFFORDABLE, QUALITY HEALTHCARE FOR EVERY PERSON

Words by Katherine Tweed

Respect is the feeling that greets you at the front door of the Family HealthCare Clinic in downtown Fargo.

From your first step onto the beautiful, terrazzo floor lobby, people wait respectfully for appointments and services. A waiting room filled with light from huge windows, and a spacious foyer to a pink marble stairway with wrought-iron railings give the place a sense of calm and quiet, dignity and peace.

Its patient-centered services include medical, dental, behavioral health and optometric. The providers create an integrated, healthcare team. Age, nationality or ability to pay are never barriers to care.

“Our clinic has a diverse group of patients,” Kelly Polcher said. Polcher holds a doctorate of nursing practice from Frontier Nursing University, Hyden, Ky. Her B.S. in nursing is from Minnesota State University Moorhead.

“We are recognized through the National Committee for Quality Assurance as a Level Three Patient Centered Medical Center, a huge accomplishment,” Polcher said. “Our focus is on access to care. We work with oth- er clinics and agencies to make sure patients receive the care they need. Medicaid, other federal subsidies and private health insurance are all used to help our patients. We do our best to make healthcare accessible and affordable.”

Certified Nurse Midwife Meghan Dockter, board certified by the American Midwifery Certification Board, agreed.

Dockter is seeing many Somali and Nepali pregnant women. “We understand and work with lots of cultural things. We all respect their cultures (and those of many other countries). Working with a pregnant woman means we form a bond. We try to spend as much time as possible with each woman.

“I have a lifetime of memories from the time I catch the baby, put the baby on its mother’s chest and then see the look on the mom’s faces. One of the draws for Family HealthCare is we see the mother throughout her pregnancy and deliver the baby,” Dockter said.

If Dockter does not do the delivery, Avis Grothem, NP, CNM, or Dr. Napoleon Espejo, MD, does. Grothem is a midwife and Espejo is the medical director. Among the three, they do about 150 deliveries a year at Sanford Medical Center. The number of births they attend goes up each year.

Kathryn Gray, PA-C, along with Polcher, sees patients of all ages, from “little kiddos to geriatric” and loves it. She cares for people with chronic diseases, annual physicals, women’s health – any healthcare need.

Gray appreciates the collaboration in their work. “We all work well together. We all act as resources for each other. That’s especially important when we serve so many cultures,” Gray said.

While Gray said the workday schedule is 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., the real work is likely 45-50 hours a week. The schedule is to see 20-26 patients a day but that flexes. “We all have an extra time commitment,” Gray said.

Dockter does not have a regular schedule because “babies come when babies come.” Whether the baby to be delivered comes from her Family HealthCare or Cass County Jail practice, she is there.

“When a woman tells me she feels respected, we are doing our job,” Dockter said.

Family HealthCare is contracted through Lutheran Social Services to provide initial medical care to new refugees. Many refugees continue to receive primary care services at Family HealthCare.

It is the same for the homeless population who come for health services.

Once patients come to Family HealthCare, no matter what or where the first introduction is to its services, they often keep coming back.

“While we are not a free clinic,” Gray said. “We are here to improve the quality of healthcare. We have that advantage because we are such a fantastic organization. We have a great medical and administrative team. Our board of directors is composed of 51 percent patients.”

“We have competitive salaries, comparable compensation. We are recognized for our hard work and we hear thank you all the time. We are supported by our leadership. We are inspired to want to stay, to do this work,” Gray said, with both Polcher and Dockter chiming in affirmations. [AWM]

The community need for the clinic is evident in 2014 statistics. They had an all-time high of 54,445 patient visits including more than 14,500 separate patients. The renovated building contains 33 medical exam rooms, seven dental chairs, an automated pharmacy, on-site lab, X-rays and offices for counseling, optometry, refugee health, interpreters, behavioral health, physical therapy and health education– all under one roof.

The Family HealthCare facility is in the historic Pence Automobile Building on the corner of Northern Pacific Avenue and 11th Street North, including three adjoining buildings.