Planting Quality Health Along With Dreams in Inner City St. Louis

Like many of the young patients seen by Denise Hooks-Anderson, M.D., at Family Care Health Centers in inner-city St. Louis, Missouri, the girl she was treating had no idea what she wanted to be when she grew up. Reality on the streets was too harsh for the luxury of hope. Nonetheless, Hooks-Anderson, an NHSC scholar, invited the girl to think about career goals before her next scheduled visit.

At the following appointment, the child told Hooks-Anderson that she wanted to be a veterinarian. The doctor challenged her patient further, asking the girl to find out what a veterinarian did and how to spell the word for their next meeting. "Sure enough, she came back all prepared to share her enthusiasm for her newfound interest," Hooks-Anderson recalls.

She views that incident as a prime example of how her role at Family Care is about much more than diagnosing illness and serving up prescriptions. "It's an opportunity to plant a dream for a better life and better health" among the hundreds of people who come through the clinic's doors, she says.

It was this kind of opportunity that drew Hooks-Anderson from a residency in the quiet reaches of Lincoln, Nebraska to St. Louis, where she is currently serving the last year of her NHSC commitment.

Hooks-Anderson is still learning about the issues facing low-income African Americans who make up 60 percent of her practice. In all, Family Care Health Centers see more than 10,000 patients a year.

"My first instinct was to try and fix everything wrong in my patients' lives with one visit," she admits. "Now that I have been here for 3 years, I realize that the best way to help them is to plant an idea at one appointment, and then nurture it over time as we develop a relationship."

Since arriving in St. Louis, Dr. Hooks-Anderson has seen how the problem of health insurance coverage can pit altruism against the practical aspects of a medical clinic. But she says, "The key to ensuring adequate followup for uninsured patients is to make sure you see a balanced number of insured and paying patients," adding, "I've learned that specialists and diagnostic labs are a lot more receptive to accepting my uninsured patients because I refer my insured patients to them as well."

Dr. Hooks-Anderson also believes that a successful community health clinic needs to have a patient population that represents every element of the local community. "Diversity helps develop a good experience base and encourages finding creative solutions to unusual situations."

Hooks-Anderson and her husband Reynaldo, both dedicated to improving the local community, chose St. Louis to build their careers. They also chose to start their family here, and had their first child shortly after they came to the city. Hooks-Anderson says that they're planning to remain in St. Louis, with her practice continuing at Family Care Health Centers, because the two fit her career aspirations and what she would like to leave as a legacy. "I can think of nothing more fulfilling," she says, "than devoting my career to helping patients thrive and grow strong as they reach out for better health."

Learn about other NHSC success stories.