The Doctor Is In
Ascension Primary Care Clinic to Open in the Newly Expanded CCF Center
By Sarah Kittle
In 2010, the need for health coverage within the Chaldean community was recognized as drastic. Project Bismutha (the “act of healing”) was founded by the Chaldean American Association for Health Professionals (CAAHP) to provide free medical services to qualified uninsured individuals. The Chaldean Community Foundation (CCF) along with Ascension (then St. John Providence) Health System partnered with CAAHP in 2011 to help support and administer the initiative.
Nearly a decade later, it was recognized that it’s no longer enough. It was apparent this underserved community needed more medical and mental health services than Project Bismutha was able to provide. More dedicated care was needed.
Ascension, as a healthcare system rooted in the loving ministry of Jesus as a healer and committed to serving with special attention to those who are poor and vulnerable, took on that challenge and committed to opening and staffing a clinic within the newly expanded CCF Center to directly serve the Chaldean community.
The new clinic, officially called the Ascension Macomb Oakland Hospital — Chaldean Community Foundation Primary Care Clinic, scheduled to open its doors located at 3501 15 Mile Road in Sterling Heights on August 1, will be part of Ascension Medical Group and will include point-of-care labs, referrals, testing and vaccinations, as well as hospital resources like advanced imaging. If hospital admission is required, patients will be taken to Ascension Macomb-Oakland Hospital.
Staffed with an Office Manager, Board-Certified Family Medicine Physician, Medical Assistant and Front Desk Manager, the clinic will be fully operational. There will also be an after-hours answering pager to help patients connect with the provider for any concerns.
The plan for the clinic is not only to provide medical help but also patient education and free seminars, although the planning is hampered by COVID concerns. The clinic will follow same rules and Center for Disease Control recommendations currently used in Ascension’s ministry. Patients will be initially screened by phone and in-person appointments will be made for those who aren’t able to benefit from virtual care.
According to Jaqueline Raxter, MA, LMSW, LPC, “The CCF anticipates that our expanded space will allow for enhanced programming in areas of integrated healthcare services for our community.” Behavioral health and physical healthcare will be offered onsite for continuity of care, as well as expanded programs to enhance respite services for caregivers.
Opportunities to provide proactive wellness programming for the most vulnerable members of the community are exciting to Raxter. “Bilingual, professional social workers are available to service individuals ages 13 years of age and older, regardless of insurance, in a private and confidential manner as well as a therapeutic environment for better health and living.”
Dr. Wafa Barkho will head the team at the clinic, being a part of Ascension and also Chaldean. She studied medicine at the University of Baghdad College of Medicine. Her heart is with the people she calls “The Abandoned Ones.”
While indigenous to the region of northern Iraq, Southeast Turkey, and northeast Syria, many Chaldean Catholics have migrated to Western countries including the United States and Canada due to religious persecution, ethnic persecution, poor economic conditions during the sanctions against Iraq and poor security conditions after the war in 2003.
In southeast Michigan, the Chaldean community is estimated to be around 160,000 - the largest concentration outside Iraq.
“We recognize that preventative healthcare is key,” says CCF president Martin Manna. “If community members can obtain well-being visits, screenings and immunizations here at the Foundation, at a location they already know and trust, they are more likely to take ownership of their own health.”
