Las Vegas Primary Care Center Asks Community for Support during COVID-19 Outbreak

LAS VEGAS - April 23, 2020 - PRLog -- Community Outreach Medical Center, a nonprofit community clinic located in central Las Vegas, is reaching out to the public for support and donations to help keep its staff and patients safe with appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) as they continue the fight against the COVID-19 virus.

"It has been great to see so many people in our community do their part to support those on the front lines during the COVID-19 outbreak. Many are donating funds or homemade PPE to hospital staff, but unfortunately, smaller clinics are being forgotten," said Kema Ogden, executive director of Community Outreach Medical Center (COMC). "At our facility, we have been doing our best to keep our staff and patients protected, but our supply of PPE is very limited."

Ogden said small primary care clinics in Las Vegas like COMC are often the first in line to see a patient who might be infected with the COVID-19 virus. Her team helps to coordinate the backflow for hospitals overwhelmed with patients by screening people for the virus and determining the next course of action – whether that be referring the patient to a hospital for more intensive care or sending them home to self-quarantine.

But with most of the community outreach and donations being directed to hospitals, Ogden said it has become more and more difficult to keep their shelves stocked with the amount of PPE needed during the current pandemic. With limited PPE, Ogden said COMC's staffing and services have been cut, and clinic hours have been reduced to keep patients and staff members safe.

"In my experience, primary medical care facilities like ours are often last on the list to receive PPE and other supplies from the emergency management department. We have some staff that are unable to work and many who are using PPE longer than the suggested time because we just don't have enough," Ogden said. "We're asking members of our community to continue their support of our local hospitals, nurses and doctors, but please don't forget about small clinics that are in dire need of PPE and funds as well."

For 15 years, COMC has provided high-quality comprehensive healthcare to the medically underserved population in Southern Nevada. COMC provides services for a vast number of patients deemed high-risk for contracting COVID-19, including many who have HIV and visit the clinic to receive Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program funded services.

COMC is one of just a handful of clinics in Las Vegas to administer comprehensive HIV primary medical care due to funding by the Ryan White HIV/AIDS program. The Ryan White program provides funding for HIV medical care, essential support services and medications for people with HIV who are uninsured and underserved.

"Many of our patients with HIV have to come into our clinic regularly to receive care. Unfortunately, we had to significantly reduce the number of patients we see because our supply of PPE is limited," Ogden said. "We're concerned not only for the safety of our staff, but also of our patients who are immune compromised and are at a much higher risk of getting sick."
To learn more about COMC or to support the clinic through financial or PPE donations, visit www.nvcomc.org.