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SALT LAKE CITY — Laura Michalski is starting her tenure as head of Utah's nonprofit that provides health care services for homeless Utahns with a request: Please include Fourth Street Clinic in your holiday giving.
During the clinic's GiveOne RaiseTwo fundraising campaign Dec. 1-10, corporate and individual sponors have pledged to double all contributions to the nonprofit organization founded in 1988.
“Fourth Street Clinic is one of the few places where homeless Utahns can still receive comprehensive medical care even if they can’t pay or are uninsured,” said Michalski, the clinic's new CEO. “But we need the community’s support to provide and grow these services. It is a great time to give.”
Fourth Street Clinic is a comprehensive health care home that provides primary care, mental health, substance abuse and dental care and case management visits. The clinic's staff of 50 and volunteer network of more than 150 people serve 4,100 homeless men, women and children a year.
The clinic provides care to a very vulnerable population, Michalski said.
Those who remain homeless die three decades earlier than their housed counterparts in the United States.
–Laura Michalski, Fourth Street Clinic CEO
“What we do know is that people who live in homelessness experience disease three to four times more often then those who are housed,” she said.
“Those who remain homeless die three decades earlier than their housed counterparts in the United States.”
Fourth Street Clinic's services, which include vaccinations, well-child checks, diagnostic tests, medical treatments, mental health, substance abuse, dental care and pharmacy services — all free of charge — are provided to improve the health and quality of life of homeless Utahns.
The clinic also partners with other direct-service providers that serve homeless people to help guide people into housing.
The GiveOne RaiseTwo campaign raises awareness that health and housing are linked, Michalski said.
"Access to health care is required for success in both,” she said.
With an eye on those relationships, Fourth Street Clinic will host a reception from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 4, at The Leonardo in conjunction with the exhibit "No Fixed Address: The Faces of America’s Homelessness." Museum admission will be free that evening.
New dental clinic to serve homeless in SLC
Many people don't look forward to going to the dentist, but for the homeless, access to dental care can be a real gift. The Fourth Street Clinic is getting ready to open its first on-site dental clinic to help them.“Fourth Street Clinic has been a part of the advisory board and is displaying a Homeless Memorial that honors those in our city who have lost their lives to homelessness,” Michalski said.
The memorial will be permanently installed outside Fourth Street Clinic when the exhibit ends in spring 2015.
Michalski was the former associate executive director at CommunityHealth in Chicago, the largest free health clinic in the country.
Under Michalski's leadership, CommunityHealth expanded program and services, including dental clinics and a satellite site in Chicago’s Englewood neighborhood. CommunityHealth also launched a licensed pharmacy and successfully implemented electronic health record management at both locations during Michalski's term.
Michalski earned bachelor's degrees in biochemistry and criminal justice from the University of Illinois at Chicago. She also completed a project management program at DePaul University and is completing a nonprofit management program through Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.
