HOUSTON — This is National Nurses Week and nursing students at the University of Houston are a perfect example of the 2023 theme: "Nurses Make a Difference: Anytime, Anywhere – Always."
Students from the UH Andy and Barbara Gessner College of Nursing provide free healthcare at a clinic near the Museum District twice a week.
"I think it was just God-driven for me to be here," one student told us. "Some of them don't have any insurance."
Where: 5401 Fannin St.
When: Mondays and Thursdays, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. (closed on holidays)
How: Call for appointments: 832-842-8203
The goal of the UH clinic is to impact healthcare inequalities in Houston while providing valuable experience for nursing students.
"Sometimes, recommended routine healthcare is difficult to access because the people seeking it don’t have permanent addresses or transportation, and, most importantly, a primary health care provider," the clinic's website explains.
Many of its patients are homeless people and the goal is to treat them before they end up in the ER -- or worse.
"Because of many different reasons, they don't go somewhere unless they are dying," Dr. Shainy Vharghese said. "Here, we are bringing the care to them."
The clinic is located near the METRORail line for people who don't have transportation. It's inside a building that also houses the Emergency Aid Coalition Food & Clothing Distribution Center so many of its patients are EAC clients.
$20M gift
The UH nursing school was recently renamed in honor of UH alumnus Andy Gessner and his wife Barbara. The couple donated $20 million to give a boost to the next generation of nurses at a time when nearly a third of them nationwide say they plan to leave the profession.
The donation will be used to fund scholarships and fellowships and to strengthen nursing education and research.
“We believe in nurses and we need more of them right now,” Andy Gessner said. “We’re all going to need a nurse at some time in our lives, and there's just not enough in the workforce or being educated for the future."
“The silver tsunami is coming,” Barbara Gessner said. “We are certainly going to need more nurses as the population gets older, so the medical profession will be put to the test. It's always been an honorable profession, and we believe in that tender, compassionate care that nurses provide.”
The couple said the gift was inspired by their late mothers, Gertrude Smith Gessner and Mildred Roberson Pottenger, both nurses who dedicated their lives to providing compassionate health care.
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