Dr. Barry Saltman is the first to admit that once he starts talking about community healthcare needs, it won’t be a quick chat. He and his wife Suzanne’s passion for the issue began decades ago as a family practitioner and nurse practitioner, respectively. After 30 years of caring for the public, however, they knew they weren’t finished.
“We knew we wanted to do something to pay the community back for all they’d done for us,” Saltman says of their idea to begin a clinic for low-income community members in the Mason area. “We had an idea that we’d find maybe 50 to 100 people to serve in the area.”
Their
Care Free Medical Clinics now serve nearly 5,500 patients in three Mason and Lansing locations, so it is no small wonder why the
Lansing Rotary are honoring the Saltmans for their seven years of community service. On Friday they received the "2011 Community Service Award” for their work.
“We’re sort of like someone who can’t diet,” Saltman says of the non-profit. “We’re just getting bigger and bigger. Now, a considerable portion of our patients are families with both parents working whose employers cannot afford insurance.”
The Saltmans are joined by 20 physicians, physician’s assistants and nurse practitioners and 20 dentists who donate their time, and one and a half employees to handle the great number of Medicaid and Ingham County Health Plan patients. They are always looking for more support and staffing to help with their growing patient population.
Source: Dr. Barry Saltman, Care Free Clinic
Writer: Natalie Burg, News Editor
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