EDITORIAL: Congratulations to Community Clinic of Southwest Missouri for 30 years of service

Mar. 24—Happy 30th anniversary to the Community Clinic of Southwest Missouri, which on March 22 marked three decades since it officially received its nonprofit status. That's 30 years of a small paid staff along with plenty of volunteer physicians and nurses providing medical and other types of health care to uninsured, underinsured and low-income individuals in the Joplin area.

Credit where credit is due: to Dr. Charles Bentlage, Dr. Michael Nagle and others who met three decades ago to lay the groundwork for the clinic. Their vision of ensuring that everyone in the area had health care access, regardless of whether they could afford it, was truly a gift to the community.

Credit also goes to the people who have staffed the clinic, whether as volunteers or as paid employees: executive directors and assistants, physicians, nurses, dentists, medical students and many, many more who have a heart for taking care of the community.

Third, we must give credit to the clinic's donors, granting authorities and other sources of financial support for making sure the clinic has continued to operate smoothly and efficiently for 30 years.

All of that adds up to a lot of health services provided. Just last year, 2,885 patients received care through 9,302 medical visits, 657 dental visits, 2,069 flu and/or COVID-19 vaccinations, 1,261 counseling visits and 12,509 prescriptions.

Looking over the three-decade history, the clinic has seen nearly 200,000 individual patient visits, said Stephanie Brady, the executive director.

"That's pretty amazing to think about how many people have benefited from the clinic in that time frame," she told us.

Indeed. A handful of those people have spoken to the Globe about the clinic's importance:

—"I would probably be 6 feet underground if it wasn't for this place," Linda Lange told us earlier this week. "I don't have a family physician. This is where I come to all the time."

—"They've addressed my blood pressure and have me on three different medications," William Knowlton told the Globe in 2019. "It's really helped a lot. These guys have been a godsend."

—"I don't know what I'd do without this place because the price of medicine is so high," Sandy Conlee told the Globe in 2019. "I'm on several medications for blood pressure, and I get it all here. They check my labs every six months and let me know how my blood work is. They treat everything that I need."

—"I had no insurance and not enough money to get established with a doctor or afford the refill I had," Kimba Haines said in 2017. "The staff has been so good to me. They are caring people and see to it that whatever my needs are, they take (care) of them."

—"I didn't know what I was going to do," Tami Leigh told the Globe in 2013 as she was dealing with some health issues. "At the urging of family and friends, I came here (to the clinic), and it's been huge. Really, I don't know where I would have been without it."

—"It's kind of a lifesaver," Larry Johnson said of the clinic in 2013. "It's really important because I couldn't afford my medicines, doctors' visits, nothing."

Congratulations to all who have been involved with the clinic since it launched in the early '90s. You have made an incredible difference in the lives of people in your community.