Community Medical Clinic provides services for all in Aiken County

Mar. 12—"I feel like we're the best kept secret of Aiken County."

That's how Jamie Mothkovich describes the Community Medical Clinic of Aiken County, of which she's the executive director.

The clinic, located at 244 Greenville St. N.W., is one of several free clinics around the state that serves uninsured and underinsured residents. Founded in 1998 as the ACTS of Caring Clinic, it has rebranded and moved over the years, and has now been in its current location since 2007.

One of the clinic's unique features, Mothkovich said, is its ability to tailor care to what each individual patient needs. As a nonprofit, the clinic doesn't have to go by a template for insurance purposes.

"We have the freedom to do a whole-person approach," Mothkovich said.

"Many of our patients come to us and they don't have a lot of control over what's going on in their lives," she continued. "So, what we do is we let them know that there are things that they can take control of and ownership of. It just empowers them to really get engaged and be active participants in their health. Because in the end, they have to do the work. We don't do it for them."

Mothkovich said one misconception perpetuated about the clinic is that people feel the patients there aren't working or "living off the system." The director disputes that claim, saying they give patients a "hand up," not a handout.

"We don't want to keep all our patients so that we can keep having our numbers," she said. "No, no, no. We want you to come in, get what you need and move on."

The average time a patients spends with the clinic is three months, according to Mothkovich.

Mothkovich takes pride in the fact the community clinic never shut down during the COVID-19 pandemic. While the way services were delivered was altered as necessary, they were still provided.

"We did curbside pharmacy, where our pharmacists actually went outside to (the patients)," Mothkovich said. "We even shipped off some medication to patients who couldn't get here. I personally took medications to patients because they (were) having a hard time getting rides. (We) implemented telehealth immediately and that was something that was life saving for our patients. Also, our nurse practitioner literally was on call 24/7 for our patients."

The executive director also spoke about the clinic's R.I.S.E. program, which stands for "Real Independence Self-Empowerment." Developed by Orion Jeter, the program engages the patient to take ownership of their health and doesn't look the same for any two people.

Just over 600 people participated in the program last year, Mothkovich said, with over 400 already being seen this year.

"Something I really would love for the community to know is that the R.I.S.E. program is not just for our patients, and it's not just for the uninsured," Mothkovich said. "It's for anyone so you can have insurance and do our R.I.S.E. program."

There are also plans to kick off a "junior" R.I.S.E. program soon, as it is currently only for those aged 18 and older.

Mothkovich said Dr. Greg Eaves was recently able to get some donations from Aiken Regional Medical Centers and Aiken Professionals Alliance to bring in an echocardiogram, an ultrasound and a stress test treadmill to ramp up their cardiac care.

The executive director said she believes COVID-19 caused an increase in cardiac-type issues, so she's excited to now be able to provide that care.

For 2022, the clinic is planning to hold several different fundraisers. Dinner with Friends is being brought back and will be held in April. In either June or July, Mothkovich said they'll hold a treasure hunt, before hopefully holding an encore trivia night in November.

Mothkovich noted that the clinic has seen its funds dwindle as of late after seeing an influx during 2020 and the first half of 2021.

"We've really felt the impact of that," she said. "(I) always say Aiken always steps up and shows out. I really need Aiken to step up and show out and really help us be able to keep our doors open because we do rely on our community to do that."

For more information, residents can visit cmcaiken.org.