Muslim Clinic Heals US Community
By Sahar Kassaimah, IOL Correspondent
WASHINGTON — Ten years after the opening of the first full-time charitable clinic at the US, University Muslim Medical Association (UMMA) is now serving about 16,000 American patients of all religious backgrounds who completely rely on its services for all their medical care.
"We started out with two paid employees supported by volunteer physicians and staff members, working only three days a week," said Dr. Mansur Khan, a co-founder and UMMA Board Vice Chairman, told IslamOnline.net.
"Now 10 years later, we have about 16,000 patients who completely rely on UMMA for all their medical care.
"We have 17 fulltime employees and operate fulltime five days a week."
Dr. Khan said they have hired physicians in addition to a large pool of volunteer physicians who volunteer usually once a month.
Dissatisfied with the lack of Muslim involvement in solving America's social issues, a small group of seven Muslim American students launched the project in 1996.
"Myself and six other UCLA (University of California, Los Angeles) students came up with the idea in 1992," Dr. Khan remembers.
"Most of us were public health or medical students. We were dissatisfied with the lack of Muslim involvement in the partaking in and solving of domestic social issues.
"With so many Muslims involved with the health profession, it struck us that Muslims were not living up to their potential to do their part."
UMMA seeks to promote the well-being of the underserved by providing access to high quality healthcare for all, regardless of ability to pay.
It aims to help alleviate some of the needs of the surrounding community in regards to proper health care and medical treatment.
Based on statistics from Los Angeles city and county for local planning and health districts, 51 percent of the area's adult target population has no medical insurance at all, exceeding the county average of 31 percent.
Between 34 and 46 percent of area children lack insurance coverage.
Over two thirds of the clinic's adult patients have very low income or meet federal poverty criteria.
Loving Others
"The idea stems from the Islamic principles of justice and wanting for others that you want for yourself," Dr. Siddiq told IOL.
Although the word UMMA is the acronym for University Muslim Medical Association (UMMA), its also means "community" in Arabic.
The project fathers wanted to have an organization that the whole community would be proud of.
Dr. Khaliq Siddiq, an UMMA Advisory Board member, said they were motivated by the teachings of Islam to help the wider community.
"The idea stems from the Islamic principles of justice and wanting for others that you want for yourself. We were driven by the teachings of Islam," he told IOL.
He recalled that the idea of the clinic came out at the time surrounding the social unrest/uprising in Los Angeles in 1992.
"Many of us felt personally responsible for the inequities and the importance of providing basic human services to individuals," said Dr. Siddiq.
"Since our training/expertise was in the arena of health care, we felt it is a natural extension of our ideas to provide health care.
"Of course, the scope of the initial ideas was more modest, but with Allah's blessings and guidance the clinic grew to be as it is today."
The clinic opens its doors for people from all faiths in a small building in South Central Los Angeles, the poorest part of the city.
"Ninety-five percent of our patients are local residents, mostly Latino and African American," asserts Dr. Khan.
"We do not have special programs for Muslims. However, the staff is educated about Islamic beliefs and customs, and in general, they are trained to be culturally sensitive, as we treat such a diverse population of patients to begin with."
He said the staff does observe Islamic holidays and often offer special events such as Ramadan iftars (fasting-breaking meals) and banquets during `Eid Al-Fitr and `Eid Al-Adha, the two religious festival in the Islamic calendar.
Khan said that they do not wish patients to feel obligated in any way, asserting that their patients know that UMMA clinic is providing a service without any expectation from them.
He added that they often hold toy giveaways, clothing giveaways, and health fairs.
"We even have a day where volunteer Muslim accountants come to the clinic and do tax returns for local residents for free. We seek to be more than a place for medical care, but a true community resource," he added.
Collaborative
UMMA started as a small mobile clinic with two employees and a few volunteer physicians.
"Initially, we wanted to set up a small, mobile clinic that would do nothing more complicated than blood pressure and diabetes screenings as well as vaccinations," said Khan.
"But with help from the City of LA were able to construct a brand new facility designed for comprehensive medical services."
It was intended to be a collaborative idea that brings people from different faiths and backgrounds together under a clearly identifiable project of the Muslim community.
"As such we have collaborated with city and county governments, universities, private foundations, and a whole host of private individuals and supporters," said Dr. Khan.
He noted that one of their biggest supporters is the California Endowment, a private, statewide health foundation that was created in 1996 to expand access to affordable, quality health care for underserved individuals and communities.
The clinic is also open to non-Muslim staff.
"UMMA clinic is the home to people of all faiths. It is staffed by people of all faiths as well," said Dr. Siddiq.
"We have staff to assist/ enroll patients in government and privately supported programs."
Dr. Khan said most of the volunteer physicians are non-Muslims.
"We consider them to be our guests, and they feel very comfortable working at a Muslim organization.
"The big lesson for us has been how there is so much goodwill out there in the mainstream American society. If you are willing to roll up your sleeves and work hard for a good cause, other Americans are willing to join you."
Source of Pride
Ten years after its establishment, UMMA has become a cherished part of the local community.
Ten years after its establishment, UMMA has become a cherished part of the local community.
Despite the high crime and gang activity in the area, the clinic has never had any problems since being opened up.
"In fact, a patient once told me that the neighbors watch over the clinic protectively," said Khan.
UMMA clinic’s patients even volunteer their time and efforts to help maintain the clinic.
"Our patients view the clinic as their medical home. Patients take pride in the clinic and provide support in a number of ways," said Dr. Siddiq.
"In addition to monetary support, patients volunteer their time to help maintain the clinic," he added.
Although the support of the Muslim community and the community at large has been phenomenal, UMMA needs more.
"The main challenge at this point is accommodating the number of patients that need our service," said Siddiq.
"We have grown tremendously and are quickly reaching full capacity due to the physical plant limitations.
"Unfortunately due to the volume of patients seen presently we are not open to seeing new patients but hope to resume services in the next few months."
Dr. Siddiq added that fundraising is also a constant challenge, noting that with the help of the community they are able to provide the care the patients need.
"UMMA remains unique in that it is a collaborative effort between governmental, educational, and community entities."
About a third of the clinic’s funding comes from state and county programs designed to pay for health services for the poor.
"Another third comes from writing grants to private and charitable foundations and the remaining third from donations, mostly from the Muslim Community," said Khan.
"With these funds, we are barely able to keep up with the demand for our services."
Dr. Khan insists that UMMA is not a public relations project done simply to improve the image of Muslims.
"In our belief, there is no better way than to demonstrate our Islamic principles than to put them in to action," he averred.
"Especially in this post 9/11 environment, our words are no longer enough. We have to show them what our faith is about. Again, however, UMMA was not established for image building. It was done as an expression of our Islamic faith."
Source
http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/S...News/NWELayout