Ten years ago when Sandy Lupoli, RN, joined the Hampton Free Medical Clinic, Hampton Beach, NH, as coordinator/administrator, the 9-by-10 clinic space included a couple of folding chairs and an antique wooden exam table that may have been a beautiful piece of furniture but wasn't comfortable for patients. A big striped "circus curtain" served as a room divider, and the adjoining Laundromat/waiting room provided much-needed heat.

Today, thanks to Lupoli and other volunteers, the antique exam table has been replaced with a modern, functional one that is more comfortable, and the circus look has left town. Still small, the clinic provides free healthcare 2 nights a month from September to May to more than 300 patients a year, including many winter residents of Hampton Beach, NH.

"These are low-income people who rent motel rooms on the beach to get a roof over their heads in the winter," Lupoli said. "Occasionally we get homeless people, but we also get working-class people who just don't have health insurance."

Generous Community

The clinic provides acute care, testing for sexually transmitted diseases, Pap smears, and vouchers for free mammograms and social worker services. Staffed by volunteers, it operates by donations and grants.

Over the past decade, Lupoli and volunteers procured many donations from the seacoast community, including the small office at 37 Ashworth Ave. from a real estate company.

In 1998, "Exeter Hospital filled my car's trunk with equipment and supplies," Lupoli said. Since 2002, Portsmouth Hospital has sent its medical van to the clinic, enlarging its working space on clinic nights. The state's Breast Cervical Cancer Program provides free screenings. Seacoast Visiting Nurses Association donates flu vaccines, and local labs have provided free supplies and services. Clients go to a local pharmacy where their medications are billed to the clinic.

"We refer clients to SeaCare Health Services of Exeter, which gets them lined up with a primary care physician who they can see for a minimal fee," Lupoli said.

Donations have been "very generous" this year, she added. "This is the first year we purchased medical equipment, including an electrocardiograph machine, dynomap and stethoscopes. We also bought another storage cabinet."

Not Her Only Job

Lupoli's efforts to build the "grassroots" clinic are even more remarkable in light of her background. The 33-year resident of Hampton graduated in 1972 from Lasell Junior College in Auburndale, MA, with an associate's degree in nursing. She has spent most of her career providing one-on-one care to geriatric and pediatric patients. She was employed by Interim Healthcare of Portsmouth and by private families, and has worked at Edgewood Centre in Portsmouth on and off for 30 years. Today she works 32 hours a week for the center, doing restorative and incontinence nursing.

Helping establish the free clinic "was a huge challenge because I had never worked in a doctor's office," Lupoli said. "I just thought it was a great opportunity for me, but I didn't know if I could do it. I just took it on, but I want to stress it's a team effort - it isn't just me."

Future Plans

Lupoli and team are pleased with the success of their unique clinic and have plans for the future. "Dr. [John "Jay"] Kaminski [MD] would like to do more preventive healthcare - try to get free colonoscopies, basic diagnostics," Lupoli said.

One goal is to take advantage of the dental van owned by Exeter Hospital. "Dental issues are huge," she said. "Several dentists in the area have helped out, but 80-90 percent of our clients could use dental care of some nature."

Ideally, Lupoli said, "We'd like not to have any clients - we'd like them lined up with their own primary care physicians. Would that happen? Probably not. We have some people who just keep coming back to us."

Appreciative Clients

Lupoli is amazed at how much the community has helped and gets enormous satisfaction from her work at the clinic.

"The clients are so thankful and appreciative of the work we do," she said. "People who haven't had a physical in 20 years are just thrilled we're there, and we are very happy we can help them."

Her work at the clinic has renewed Lupoli's enthusiasm for nursing and increased her knowledge in the profession.

"I always felt I didn't really have good nursing general knowledge because my experience was so focused on private duty," Lupoli commented. "[My work at the clinic] gave me an opportunity to learn more. The older I get the more excited I'm getting again about nursing. I've had lots of private duty and loved working with the kids but some cases were more like baby-sitting.

"But through the clinic I've learned a lot, and now with restorative and incontinence nursing, I'm learning even more and that excites me." n

Kathleen A. Waton is a frequent contributor to ADVANCE.