By Dr. Brad Smith, MOM AZ Medical Director
It is imperative that Mission of Mercy gives free medicine to our patients in order to fulfill our mission of “restoring dignity” to the underserved. There are three critical ways we are able to provide this valuable service to our patients.
The first is to purchase medicines from a wholesale supplier, which is necessary and valuable, but which also limits the medications to mostly “first-line” treatment options. These drugs are still effective for most conditions, but often with therapeutic constraints.
The second is to work with a particular drug manufacturer to obtain a particularly expensive medicine for a very specific condition (such as Hepatitis C or HIV). This method requires extensive paperwork to be completed by both the patient and our clinic team.
And the third way we obtain our medicines is to have them donated by organizations such as CenterWell Pharmacy, Direct Relief and AmeriCares. This option gives us the opportunity to more effectively treat conditions such as diabetes, hypertension and a variety of other medical conditions. Without the help of these donated medicines, neither the patient nor Mission of Mercy (MOM) would be able to afford them.
Several years ago, friends and advocates for MOM began planting seeds at the state level with the Arizona State Board of Pharmacy by proposing changes to existing laws to remove barriers to donating medications. The Arizona State Board of Pharmacy approved the proposal from CenterWell Pharmacy (wholly owned by Humana) and allowed new pathways to donate medications. Years later, the Arizona Legislature amended its laws to allow for other entities to more easily donate medications to charitable healthcare clinics like MOM.
Since then, we have been able to more effectively treat many conditions, as well as provide life-saving medications to patients who would otherwise not be able to afford them. An example that we encounter frequently is a patient who has been diagnosed in the hospital with atrial fibrillation (AFib) or a blood clot and is given a prescription for a newer generation blood thinner, typically costing between $500 and $1,000 a month. Fortunately, we are the recipient of these types of medications through a robust local partnership with CenterWell Pharmacy, thereby allowing us to avoid substituting the therapy with an older medicine that requires continual monitoring through blood draws.
Another example of this incredibly valuable relationship is the ability to add newer oral diabetic medicines for our patients who would otherwise require the use of insulin injections. After all, who among us wants to take daily injections for the rest of our lives? Until these newer medicines become available as generic and at a much lower price, they are simply out of reach for our uninsured patients without the generous donations from CenterWell Pharmacy.
Our team at MOM remains filled with gratitude for the leadership of CenterWell Pharmacy Director Nathan Hunnell (also MOM Board Member), CenterWell Pharmacy Manager Scott Reese and the entire team at CenterWell Pharmacy, for planting seeds and helping them grow into a robust partnership responsible for many medication donations over the past few years. This immense generosity enables MOM to sow seeds of dignity, compassion and love within each and every patient we serve through our Arizona medical program.
