$3500 to Help Uninsured Women

The Women’s Fund Grant to Dr. Gary Burnstein Community Health Clinic

Last year, the Women’s Fund presented the Dr. Gary Burnstein Community Health Clinic (GBCHC) with a $3500 grant to help to fund pap smears to uninsured women.

The clinic recently shared a few updates on how they have been able to help patients due to the grant funding. Recently they had a patient who had previously tested positive for a low grade pre-cancerous lesion but has not been unable to afford proper follow up care. Thanks to the grant they have been able to monitor that lesion with PAP smear and were able to determine the issue has been resolved and she would no longer have to worry about the health issue. Additionally, as part of the normal PAP smear evaluation the lab looks for infections (such as bacterial vaginosis). As part of their PAP initiative dozens of asymptomatic infections have been treated, protecting these women from pelvic inflammatory disease which is painful and can cause scaring which results in infertility.

In another example, Executive Director Justin Brox shared “We had a new patient come in who had not been seen by a gynecologist in over a decade. Our volunteer gynecologist, who was new to us as a volunteer, had asked where they would send the patient for a PAP smear, explaining how important it is and inquiring as to what they can do to help the patient. I listened as the smile of my face got bigger.  When he finished I thanked him for his strong desire to help and informed him that thanks to a grant from The Women’s Fund we are able to provide PAP smears to all our patients on site. Obviously he was thrilled and relieved that accessing this vitally important test was going to be so simple for the patient.  Thankfully the test results were negative and this young lady was able to sleep more peacefully.”

Brox also shared the reason the Clinic was driven to be able to provide PAP smears on sight came after a personal loss. “A good friend of the clinic needed a PAP smear however we didn’t have the funding to get it done here, but we were able to find a program where she could get it done for free. It seemed like a foolproof plan.  However, busy lives and transportation difficulties combined to keep her from ever getting that vital PAP smear. Sometime later she became very ill and went into the hospital, as they looked for a cause they found she had advanced cervical cancer. She died a short time later.  Had we simply been able to provide this vital service at the clinic this friend would probably still be with us. Thanks to your support this story will never be repeated.”

The Dr. Gary Burnstein Community Health Clinic (GBCHC) provides top-quality integrative healthcare to vulnerable community members at absolutely no cost to them, while ensuring that the treatment is received in a caring, compassionate, and dignified atmosphere. They offer a multitude of specialties and general medical services for our patients, making the GBCHC a comfortable and accessible healthcare center for people with multiple and varied needs.

Over the past 16 years, the Women’s Fund has donated more than $300,000 to organizations helping women. The fund is a permanently endowed fund owned and administered by the Community Foundation of Greater Rochester. Through grant-making, the Fund provides ongoing and future support for programs that aid women while preserving and managing its donations in perpetuity by spending only the fund’s income and annual earnings.

For more information on the Women’s Fund, please visit their website at www.womensfundrochester.org or for questions please call (248) 812-0763 or emailwomensfundrochester@gmail.com. You can also follow them on Facebook at The Women’s Fund.