HICKSVILLE—Physical and spiritual care go hand-in-hand at the Fountain of Faith Free Medical Clinic, a Christian ministry in Hicksville that provides basic health care to the uninsured.

Patients who seek treatment from the volunteer medical staff can also receive pastoral counseling in the waiting room from local ministers like Deacon Joseph Timbrook of Hicksville St. Michael, who attends the clinic every month to pray with patients and listen to their stories.

Deacon Joseph Timbrook

"We talk about all the things of the world," says Deacon Timbrook. "You talk politics, you talk their lives, you talk their pains and their sorrows and you try to give them a boost.

"And then if you’re standing there and nobody wants to talk, then you pray," he adds. "I’m a big believer in the power of prayer."

The deacon says he took up the ministry nearly a year ago at the invitation of Todd and Susan Wiley, the Christian couple that started the Fountain of Faith Free Medical Clinic in June 2007. "I had only been ordained for a short period of time and I was praying for where God wanted me to go, and He kind of sent this my way," says Deacon Timbrook, who was ordained in September 2007.

Dr. Wiley, a family medicine physician with a private practice in nearby Antwerp, explains he turned to local church congregations for help with the clinic because he hoped addressing people’s physical needs "could open a window to addressing their spiritual needs."

"What we found kind of early on was that we could help with the medical aspect, but we were just so busy that we couldn’t really touch on, why are you here? What do you have in your life that you need counseling on, or just prayer?" adds Mrs. Wiley, who is a nurse.

They invited local clergy to spend time visiting and praying with patients in the waiting area of the clinic, which is held the first Saturday of every month at Community Memorial Hospital. "That’s why we’re really there, is to just plant those seeds that ‘God loves you,’ and they do a fantastic job with that," says Mrs. Wiley.

"Bringing people to faith" and getting them involved in their local churches is the most important thing, agrees Dr. Wiley.

Fountain of Faith does not receive any government funding, which Dr. Wiley says gives them the freedom to offer religious materials like Bibles and Christian CDs and DVDs to patients.

The free health care services offered by Fountain of Faith are largely supported by donations from area church congregations, and the Catholic community at St. Michael has held a variety of fundraisers for the clinic. Dr. Wiley notes every dollar received goes directly to patient care, since the hospital donates the space for the clinic and all staff members are volunteers.

The clinic is scheduled from 8:30 a.m. to noon, but Mrs. Wiley says they usually get there at around 7:30 a.m. to begin meeting with patients who arrive early.  They typically see between 25 and 30 people by noon, providing routine checkups along with treatment for everything from the common cold to cancerous lesions — ìthe whole gamut, just like you would see at a private practice,î she says.

Anyone from a low-income household who does not have insurance is eligible for services at the clinic, which draws patients from Hicksville and many surrounding communities like Antwerp, Edgerton, Defiance and Fort Wayne, Ind.

Dr. Wiley says there is a particular need for services among those who do not qualify for public assistance and cannot get health insurance through their jobs. In 2007, the U.S. Census Bureau reported the number of people in the United States lacking health insurance was 45.7 million, including 8.1 million children.

The number of patients the clinic sees each month has remained fairly stable, but Mrs. Wiley says she has noticed "a difference in why the patients are there" in light of the worsening economy.

Where they used to see more patients who were "between state programs" such as Medicaid, "definitely in the past few months we’ve seen patients who have never been without a job. They’ve had their job 18, 20, 25 years, some of them, and they just recently lost their job and had no idea even where to start," she says.

Deacon Timbrook recalls the "heart-wrenching" exchange he had with one individual at the clinic who told him he never thought he’d be in such a position.

"It just breaks your heart, because we never know where we’re going to be in our lives and we never know if we’re going to have a time where things are going to fall off and we’re going to be in need," says Deacon Timbrook. "So supplying for these needs is a great thing ... it’s what Christ calls us to do, is to try to fill the gaps for the poor and those who are in need."

Deacon Timbrook, who has lived in Hicksville most of his life, notes the small community of about 4,000 residents always gives generously to good causes like Fountain of Faith.

"When people need things there, things happen," he says.