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Healing through love at Mission of Mercy

Posted at 5:42 PM, Sep 27, 2018
and last updated 2018-09-27 19:39:18-04

Mission of Mercy has one mission in mind: to provide free healthcare to uninsured or underinsured working families. They operate out of a newly built Medical Center on Ayers Street.

Mission of Mercy moved into their new facility in early 2018. The center measures 14,000 sq. foot and is much larger than their previous home.

The center is where staff and volunteers provide medical care to about 1,500 patients. Last year, there were just under 4,300 free patient visits. There’s also a mobile clinic that operates out of Sandia.

The new center looks much like a doctor’s office, but offers a lot more. Patients are seen by physicians and nurse practitioners, and can even go back for check-ups. The center also helps patients, who otherwise can’t afford them, to get prescriptions at no cost.

“We’ve become an all-encompassing unit that helps to take care of the entire patient,” Lynette Navar said, the nursing director at Mission of Mercy.

Navar sees dozens of patients a day, and says many of them don’t have access to healthcare.

“Many patients have been everywhere,” Navar said. “I had a patient last night that hadn’t had medical care in 20 years.”

The new center offers patients like hers different kinds of resources and programs. Some new services at the center include a free eye clinic, discounted glasses, and free behavioral counseling. Beginning in October, the center will offer a healthy cooking class, plus information for those with diabetes.

Between over 100 volunteers and a couple dozen staff, their mission to make sure their patients are well taken care of. Their motto, is healing through love.

“It’s giving, but I see that the work we do, the fund raising that we’re doing – I see that it is helping,” Ecriselda Scott said, a volunteer since 2011.

“I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard from a patient you have provided hope,” Navar said.

Mission of Mercy is also looking for volunteers for several positions including physicians, nurses, fundraisers and drivers.

Click here for more information about Mission of Mercy.