535 N. 27th Street, Milwaukee, WI 53208  ◘  Telephone: (414) 342-1400

Philippine Center Clinic, a Lifeline for the Disadvantaged
Health care providers donate time to care for city's working poor.

By FELICIA THOMAS-LYNN
Posted: Jan. 20, 2007 Journal Sentinel

Dr. Violeta A. Singson checks the heartbeat of patient Wilfredo Larrondo.

"My medication is very expensive. I can't afford it."

So once a month, he turns up at the Philippine Center Free Medical Clinic, 535 N. 27th St., which operates on second and fourth Saturdays and offers exams, health screenings, immunizations and other basic medical treatment and dental referrals for the uninsured and underinsured.
On a recent Saturday, within an hour of the clinic's 9 a.m. opening, the waiting room was filled to capacity.

"It's always this busy," said Charita Bates, supervisor of the clinic, as she zoomed between patients waiting in line for an empty exam room.

<< Nikangelea Chavis (left) fills out a medical history with help from her grandmother Charlotte Brown as her daughter, Cheryl Foster, 17 months, rests against her at the free medical clinic operated by the Philippine Center.

The clinic is run by Filipino doctors and other health care professionals, with assistance from area medical students, who all donate their time to serve the poor.

"The clinic is in keeping with the aspiration of the Filipino-Americans in Milwaukee to give something back to the community," said Violeta Singson, a Milwaukee pediatrician and medical director for the clinic, which was initiated using a $3,000 grant from the Philippine Medical Association of Wisconsin.

Singson said that, “while practicing medicine at their respective doctors' offices, many association members witnessed abject poverty in the midst of plenty. Touched by the suffering of many of those in the city, the desire grew to eventually serve the disadvantaged and the underprivileged citizens of our community."

Since opening the clinic six years ago, the patient load has skyrocketed, climbing from 107 patients during its first full year to 1,097. The clinic relies heavily on donor support, from hospitals that offer to do X-rays at a reduced rate to donations from private individuals.
At least 35% of the patients are infants through 18 years old; 56% are 19 to 65 and; 9% are older than 65.

"My biggest challenge now, in addition to funding, is having two adult physicians every clinic day," said Singson, adding that the clinic usually has only one doctor who serves adults. "My comfort level is limited to children and simple adult problems."
Though the Saturday free clinic is scheduled to close at noon, it continues to see patients several hours after.

"We haven't turned people away, but they have to wait a lot longer," she said. "We get out of there after 3 p.m., and I sometimes bring my charts home."
But for patients like Larrondo, who left the clinic with one month's supply for each of his various medications, their efforts are vital and potentially life-saving.
"Without this place," Larrondo said, "I don't know where I would be."