Member Spotlight: Alicia Seggelink at Sulzbacher- Beaches Community Healthcare Location

Name: Alicia Seggelink
Position: Patient Advocate at Sulzbacher – Beaches Community Healthcare Location
Undergraduate Degree: Biochemistry and Spanish from Allegheny College, Meadville, PA
Hometown: Little Chute, WI
Currently Reading: Middlemarch by George Eliot

Whether you are someone who considers the glass to be half full or half empty, no optimist or pessimist can deny that this service term is half over for us. By this time, we have all really hit our stride here at our host sites, and I am excited to say that everything is going smoothly at the Sulzbacher Center-Beaches Community Healthcare location. Duval County has the sixth largest uninsured population in Florida, with 20% of the county residents having no health insurance coverage. Homeless and transitional residents are acutely at risk of going for years without medical care. The patients of the Sulzbacher center can now address health problems that may have or will develop into serious illness. Chronic diseases of the heart, hypertension, diabetes, and obesity, are rampant in the homeless community. The medical services of the two Sulzbacher clinics are designed as part of a community-wide “safety net” of health care providing primary and preventive care to the underserved population.

The mission of the Sulzbacher Center is “to empower homeless and at-risk men, women, and children to achieve a better life through a full range of services, both direct and in collaboration with community partners, thus renewing hope and restoring lives back into the fabric of the community.” As a patient advocate, I assist our clients by screening patients for Patient Assistance Program (PAP) eligibility and helping them enroll in PAP programs that provide free prescription medications to those who qualify. In addition, my role as a co-facilitator for tobacco cessation classes has given me the opportunity to make an impact on another issue plaguing the community – smoking. Increasing access to healthcare and decreasing the cost of healthcare are two parts of the mission of the North Florida Health Corps. By assisting patients in obtaining medications affordably, which in turn can decrease the instance of more serious medical conditions, I am playing a role in contributing to this mission. In addition, providing health education about smoking also coincides with the NFHC mission and will undoubtedly serve to improve the overall health of our community.

Alicia helps clients enroll in programs for
 free prescription medications.

Though it has only been half of a service term, I feel that my experience thus far has given me a lifetime of knowledge, motivation, and insight. I already knew I wanted to practice medicine before joining the NFHC; however, this experience has only further reassured this desire. In addition, I have learned so much about Public Health that it has made me passionate about forever being an advocate for the demographic and population we serve. It has also made me more interested in practicing primary care and looking to promote health rather than focus primarily on treating illness. Moreover, I have learned the impact of working as a team (especially in a clinical setting), which is becoming increasingly more important in healthcare as is, in my opinion, providing care as an interdisciplinary team. On another note, being able to meet with almost every patient that comes to the clinic, I have learned the impact of being understanding towards clients’ challenges and struggles. I realize how simple it is to take for granted anything and everything in your life. I have met people who seemingly had everything, only for it to all be swept away by some accident or event in their lives. It has made me appreciate more what resources I have and the people in my life.

These are only a few of the countless things I have learned so far this term, and even though I feel I have learned so much, I know that I have much still to learn and that this next half of my term will be just as educational and inspirational. While I am sad to realize that half of the service term is over and that the next half will fly by just as fast, I am also very excited to start the next chapter of my life when I finish and to take this whole experience with me wherever I go.