Free clinic at SRU offers option for those with P.T. needs
SLIPPERY ROCK — Physical therapy can restore mobility and allow patients to return to an active life, but the constraints of insurance coverage can prevent that vital treatment.
Enter the James K. Eng Pro Bono Clinic in the physical therapy education building on the campus of Slippery Rock University.
The clinic opened last spring after a delay caused by the coronavirus pandemic, and welcomes students, staff, community members and anyone who has physical therapy needs not covered by health insurance.
Difficulty accessing insurance, high co-pays, or exhausting the maximum number of sessions covered by insurance are the main reasons patients use the clinic, said Addison Blicha, clinical coordinator and a second-year student in the university’s physical therapy graduate program.
She said four or five of the program’s professors, plus a few doctors who practice in the community, oversee treatment of patients at the clinic on a volunteer basis. All professors in the program are licensed physical therapists.
“We are working on the number of volunteer clinicians we have,” she said.
Blicha said the majority of patients at the pro bono clinic — which is Latin for “for the public good,” — were prescribed physical therapy after orthopedic treatment and used all their visits covered by insurance.
“We are now seeing two patients per week,” Blicha said. “Our goal is to get upward of four per week. Part of the dream is to build up the pro bono clinic to include occupational and recreational therapy.”
Eng, a retired professor in the SRU physical therapy program who volunteers at the clinic named for him, said Ben Richardson, a student who graduated in 2016, accompanied him to a pro bono networking conference.
“I got the idea that it would be nice to serve uninsured and underinsured people here,” Eng said.
The clinic serves the dual purposes of treating those in need of physical therapy and providing hands-on experience to students, he said.
Joseph Fiedor, associate professor in the program and faculty adviser at the clinic, enjoys seeing the students working because it improves their interaction with patients, allows them to practice their clinical skills and increases their confidence in decision making.
Eng agreed.
“Communicating with patients and demonstrating compassion is more of an intense situation you only see in a clinical setting,” Eng said.
Hearing the struggles patients deal with as a result of their condition also is a valuable lesson for the students, he said.
“I think they do develop a compassion,” Eng said.
But Fiedor said students don’t simply cycle through the clinic without consideration of its operation.
An eight-person student board of directors runs the clinic, making administrative decisions, determining what prospective patients qualify for treatment, and meeting regularly.
About 40 leadership positions are filled by the students in the program, Fiedor said.
He said under the watchful eye of faculty advisers, student therapists set goals for patients coming to the clinic and discharge them when, and only when, they reach those goals.
“There are no definitive number of visits,” Fiedor said.
He said younger patients are usually being treated for musculoskeletal injuries, while older patients are treated for stroke, Parkinson’s disease, or other conditions more likely to affect the senior population.
Eng recalled a situation in which two players on the university’s volleyball team presented with back pain. He said neither player was insured for physical therapy treatment.
“In one remarkable success story, we were able to look carefully at the way she jumped, and we were able to identify that she wasn’t jumping properly,” Eng said.
The team at the clinic discovered in the other volleyball athlete her hip pain upon serving was due to her legs being different lengths, which she was treated for and recovered.
“She was working in a restaurant and she had no health insurance,” Eng said.
The clinic operates through grants, fundraisers and donations. Canes, walkers and other assistive apparatus can be donated as well.
Marisa Wolff, a second-year physical therapy student, handles student relations for the clinic.
“It’s a great learning opportunity for us to actually experience patient interaction,” Wolff said. “There is a lot of labwork in the classroom, but it’s nothing compared to working on a real patient.”
After graduation and passing her national certification exam, Wolff hopes to work in neurological physical therapy, which treats patients who have had a stroke or suffer from vestibular or concussion issues.
She hopes to open a pro bono clinic of her own someday.
Blicha said when looking at physical therapy programs, she was thrilled to see SRU was opening a pro bono clinic.
“That increased my interest in Slippery Rock University,” she said.
She said the clinic allows her to practice her skills while giving back to the community, which is a lifestyle choice she has always pursued.
Fiedor said patients who have used the clinic have reported decreased pain and increased mobility.
The James K. Eng Pro Bono Clinic at SRU is open from 5:15 to 6:15 p.m. Tuesdays and Wednesdays to patients who meet eligibility requirements. A licensed physical therapist is always present and guiding treatment.
To determine eligibility, email probono@sru.edu.
