Steubenville man’s heart is on the mend thanks to free clinic
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STEUBENVILLE -- Donald Zurow never thought he'd end up in the hospital with congestive heart failure at the age of 40 and with no health insurance, but when that happened, it was follow-up care from the Ohio Valley Health Center that helped get his heart on the mend.
A Steubenville resident, Zurow is a waiter at a diner in Robinson Township -- his first job that didn't provide health insurance. By 2023, Zurow had not been seen by a medical doctor in around 10 years after not having any outstanding reasons to go, he said.
By August, Zurow had two instances wherein he "got winded (and) could barely breathe," being forced to stop working and catch his breath during the diner's busiest hours. It was recommended he see a doctor and did, despite apprehensions.
At Trinity Medical Center West, Zurow was diagnosed with congestive heart failure resulting from thyrotoxicosis, a condition causing his heart to overact -- known as atrial fibrillation -- which in turn had damaged his heart tissue. Thus, Zurow's heart was beating too fast, and the damage was preventing the necessary amount of blood from being pumped, resulting in an even faster heart rate to try and make up for the insufficiency.
"I really didn't know what to do," Zurow recalled. "I was in the hospital, it was all so expensive and I didn't have any insurance. I just really wanted to get out."
Spending 10 days at the hospital, Zurow was placed on medications meant to ease the stress on his heart and allow it to heal. He also was told to wear a LifeVest from Zoll Medical Corp., which he received for a roughly $250 security deposit. The vest acts as a portable defibrillator, shocking its wearer -- with warning -- if it detects the person experiencing certain life-threatening heart rhythms.
Zurow's hospital bill after discharge was around $30,000, he said. That, combined with his lack of insurance, put Zurow in a difficult spot, where his options for follow-up care and medication refills were severely limited by his available finances.
Fortunately, Zurow had come to meet Dr. Charn Nandra while at Trinity. A locally practicing cardiologist and general practitioner with a fellowship in family medicine, Nandra referred Zurow to the Ohio Valley Health Center, a free clinic for the medically underinsured and uninsured where Nandra has served as the medical director since 2006.
After an initial consultation, Zurow had his first scheduled appointment at the clinic with Nandra two weeks later and continued to meet with him regularly for follow-up visits. During that time, Zurow underwent in-house lab tests, including electrocardiograms to measure his heart's electrical signals; had physical examinations with Nandra; and had his prescription medications repeatedly refilled for free.
Zurow was able to return to work, making sure to stay on his treatment plan. After about six months of recuperation, his heart was shown to have a 40 percent ejection fraction, a major improvement from the 15 percent he showed upon being admitted to the hospital -- ejection fraction measures how much blood the heart's left ventricle pumps out at each contraction.
If the OVHC wasn't there to provide its follow-up care, Zurow said, "I probably would've not done anything and just went back (to work) and hoped that it worked itself out, and then I'd probably end up, in the same week, going back to the hospital again ... or a lot worse."
Zurow is one of many individuals who's received care from the OVHC, said Ann Quillen, the center's executive director.
"We hear all the time we're the best-kept secret in the Ohio Valley," Quillen said. "We've been working really hard to get the word out about the care we can provide, and Don's story is the perfect one."
Services from the OVHC include providing medications, laboratory services, case management, food assistance and health screenings, all without expecting anything in return from patients -- those lacking adequate health insurance or insurance altogether.
For those like Zurow who can't afford to pay for their medication refills -- something Zurow will need for the rest of his life to manage his condition -- the OVHC can help, having provided almost $500,000 in medications for patients and filled more than 3,000 prescriptions out of its medication room last year alone.
The OVHC offers case management for its patients to help with applying for Social Security Disability Insurance or Medicaid -- a certified application counselor can guide individuals through paying their medical bills or applying for marketplace insurance, as one will soon do with Zurow.
To continue offering its services, the OVHC depends upon grants and private donations. A major source of funding for the clinic is its annual gala.
This year's event, themed after the Kentucky Derby, will take place on April 28 at St. Florian Event Center in Wintersville, beginning at 5 p.m. Tickets are priced at $65 per person, and the deadline to purchase them is April 19. Individuals can secure a spot by visiting ovhealthcenter.org or calling (740) 283-2856.
Donations will help keep the OVHC's doors open and expand its services. One potential purchase is an echocardiogram machine, which uses sound waves to monitor a heart's blood flow.
Having an in-house echo machine would allow the clinic to offer tests that help with diagnoses, fine-tune patients' treatment and promote better health outcomes down the line, Quillen said, adding that the underinsured are often denied prior authorization for an echo by health insurers if the patient doesn't have a diagnosis.
"Donors are most important to keep this concept of free clinic alive," said Nandra, noting the credit due to the OVHC's board of trustees, volunteer medical providers and donors.
Nandra said he is passionate about the OVHC's mission, adding, "We are all sent to this mother earth, not for our own gratification, but I think to serve others, and I believe that every human being who is capable of holding the hand of the less fortunate is walking the line of spirituality and humanity."
Now, by seeing Zurow regularly -- even performing an echocardiogram for Zurow free of charge in his own office -- Nandra said he's pleased with the patient's progress. Further, with Zurow's condition being lifelong, the longevity of the OVHC and its services is as important as ever.