Bill Holland first learned about the Penn State Health Medical Outreach Clinic shortly after moving to Harrisburg from New York 12 years ago.
At the time, he was volunteering at a local church’s food bank, and nurses from the clinic were there offering free blood pressure screenings. He received a screening, made a mental note of the clinic’s down-the-street location, and has been going to and advocating for it ever since.
“It’s a known and loved resource in the community—the people and the place,” said Holland, who has developed strong connections with the staff over the years. “Whatever I need, whether it’s medical related or not, I know I can go to them.”
Nestled on the lower level of Christ Lutheran Church in Harrisburg’s Allison Hill neighborhood, the free-of-charge health clinic touches the lives of more than 10,000 people a year.
Unlike most medical practices, patients don’t need insurance or an appointment to receive care. It’s a walk-in clinic, so people come as they are.
Some come for regular blood pressure or sugar screenings; others require medication prescriptions or an urgent referral to a specialist. A considerable number of people simply need someone they can talk to and trust. Regardless, the clinic is committed to providing care to all those who enter—never turning anyone away.
“We meet people where they are in life,” said Vanessa Garcia, clinic director. “How we’ve served the community for the last several decades is so much broader and deeper than just providing health care.”
A big part of the approach, she said, is actively showing that you care.
“We’re here to listen to people—really listen to them,” she said. “We sit down with them for however long they need us. We talk about the individual’s needs, we talk about life. We get them the help they need, and we get to know each other on a first-name basis.”
With a staff of only six—Garcia, one full-time and two part-time nurses, a secretary and a custodian—each takes on their day-to-day tasks with heartfelt diligence, transforming the sterile-in-nature environment of a health clinic into a welcoming place rooted in whole-person healing.
Garcia, who was a nurse at the clinic for many years before becoming director, still takes the time to visit patients like Holland and ask them how they’re doing. Similarly, Sandra Cruz, one of the nurses, said that she loves what she does so much that she’d do it for free. In fact, as a long-time volunteer, that’s exactly what she did for many years.
“That’s not how most hospitals or doctor’s offices function, but the fact that we do is what made me want to work here at this clinic in the first place,” Cruz said. “It’s who I am at my core—extending my hand out to others, no matter who you are or where you came from.”
In 1995, the clinic began as a church soup kitchen turned health ministry, now affiliated with Penn State Health Holy Spirit Medical Center. Nearly 30 years later, its ties to spirituality remain strong in more ways than just its location.
Matthew Best, the newly appointed pastor of Christ Lutheran, began his role with the church and its health ministries a little more than six months ago, but it didn’t take him long to embrace it fully. Many days, he can be found sitting in the lobby of the clinic with a sign that reads, “Free Prayers,” and engaging with waiting patients.
“A lot of churches think of themselves as the congregation and outreach as an extra add-on. In the case of Christ Lutheran Church, I see an important partnership between the two,” Best said. “The congregation can’t exist without the health ministries, and the health ministries that exist in our church do so because of the congregation. It’s a symbiotic relationship. They both rely on each other’s existence.”
Every day, Garcia sees the support of Christ Lutheran and countless other local ministry partners who believe in and contribute to the clinic’s people-centered mission at work—in the lights kept on, the shelves stocked with supplies, the lives that have been transformed, and the people who keep flowing in.
“If we can maintain what we have—the place, the space and the mission support to keep it running like this—that is my hope, that this goes on forever,” she said. “We will certainly evolve some as the needs of the community change. But foundationally, I hope that we’re always here, and we’re a stable place for people to come into because the need will always be there.”
The Penn State Health/Holy Spirit Hospital Medical Outreach Clinic is located in Christ Lutheran Church at 124 S. 13th St., Harrisburg. For more information, visit www.christharrisburg.org/health-ministries.
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