Christopher Dacanay WOUND CARE — Crystal Boyd, volunteer nurse practitioner at the Ohio Valley Health Center, inspected the dressings around one of patient Zachary Scholl’s legs.

STEUBENVILLE — The Ohio Valley Health Center strives to provide high-quality health care to uninsured and underinsured residents of the Ohio Valley, no matter their ability to pay. Founded in 2006, the free clinic in Steubenville supplies vital services to disadvantaged individuals, for whom the cost of medical care can be prohibitive.

Whether a patient’s time with the OVHC is long or short, the clinic works to fill gaps in their care through services like medication assistance, laboratory testing, food supplements or case management that connects them to other needed resources.

There is no single archetype of an OVHC patient, and the health issues that patients bring with them are just as diverse.

Zachary Scholl, 34, of Irondale was referred to the OVHC by Crystal Boyd — a wound care-certified nurse practitioner in East Liverpool who also volunteers as a medical provider at the clinic.

Lacking insurance, Scholl received free wound care from Boyd at the OVHC, targeting ulcers on his legs that had become severe. Clinic staff provided him with wrap-around services and helped him enroll in Medicaid. Scholl has since returned to Boyd’s practice in East Liverpool, utilizing his new healthcare coverage.

Had he not visited the OVHC, Scholl likely would have continued seeking medical help only when absolutely necessary, racking up bills but never solving the issue. Thus, his brief yet pivotal time with the OVHC demonstrates the importance of the clinic’s work as a safety net, according to Executive Director Ann Quillen.

“He came here because we could provide him the services for free,” Quillen said. “Now that he has insurance, he can go back to more local doctors. He has an option, and he has had the follow-up care that he needs. Even though he hasn’t continued as a patient here at the health center, we were here at a crisis point in his life.”

Raised in Irondale, Scholl attended Edison Local School District. He’s been a restaurant manager for most of his life and was working at an establishment in Toronto when he started experiencing swelling in his legs.

“I had no insurance, and basically for months and months, it got worse and worse,” Scholl recalled April 1. “I was ‘doctor hopping,’ is what I call it. Whenever I could afford it, I’d go spend $120 just to get seen somewhere. I did that for quite a while.”

Supposing cellulitis to be the issue, doctors continually treated the ulcers that had appeared on his legs, Scholl said, but no treatment yielded positive results.

Six months into the matter, Sept. 10, Scholl visited River Valley Physicians in Calcutta, where staff “took one look at me and said, ‘Go to the ER.'” Scholl then got connected with Boyd, who’s the primary NP at East Liverpool City Hospital’s Wound Care Center every weekday and oversees the hyperbaric oxygen therapy chambers.

Until then, other medical professionals had failed to identify the fundamental cause of his wounds and had proposed insufficient solutions, Scholl said. Boyd, however, recognized the venous stasis ulcers on his legs — caused by poor blood flow — required special intervention. Continued wound care could get the ulcers to a better state, but that wouldn’t solve Scholl’s underlying vascular problem.

“Until you get him to the specialist, where he can have actual vascular testing, and to the vascular doctor, then he would continue to have the wounds until you fixed the problem,” Boyd recalled.

Because the outpatient wound center only accepts insurance, Boyd referred Scholl to the OVHC for follow-up care. The very next week, Scholl arrived at the clinic for his appointment, feeling unwell and with bandages up and down his legs.

Scholl saw Boyd for wound care every two weeks, with the OVHC providing dressings and medications for free. The gauze alone saved Scholl hundreds of dollars a month, and with the clinic’s help, he was approved for a prescription assistance program to assist with his $300-per-tube ointment.

Additionally, Scholl’s visits revealed a thyroid problem, high blood pressure and nutritional deficiencies he hadn’t known about.

The clinic helped Scholl apply for Medicaid, and once enrolled, he returned to Boyd’s regular practice at the Wound Care Center. Scholl was referred to interventional cardiologist Dr. James D’Antonio and is now scheduled to undergo surgery on his legs — one procedure for each, beginning with the left leg Tuesday — that will hopefully resolve the vascular issue.

Because it would promote swelling and inhibit healing, Scholl has not been working, but he looks forward to working once again after his procedures. Scholl noted that, without the OVHC and Medicaid, each of his paychecks would’ve been consumed by private insurance payments.

Quillen said many individuals face similar scenarios, lacking insurance through their employer and being unable to pay for private insurance. It’s in those situations that the OVHC can make a big difference.

“(Scholl) is not a long-term patient here at the health center, but we filled the gap for him,” Quillen said. “We took away the barriers to health care that he was experiencing for a very long time. We don’t ever say, ‘You’re our patient, you have to keep coming to us.’ We just want to make sure that people get connected to the care and the services that they need.”

Still, Medicaid doesn’t fully cover Scholl’s wound care supplies, though the OVHC can fill that gap if he ever wanted it to, Quillen added. The non-profit clinic relies on grant funding and donations, so the gift of certain supplies is welcomed gladly.

Funds generated by the OVHC’s annual gala cover about one-third of the organization’s operations. This year’s gala will take place April 27 at the St. Florian Event Center, 286 Luray Drive, Wintersville.

Tickets are priced at $65 per person and must be purchased by Monday. Individuals can visit www.ovhealthcenter.org or call (740) 283-2856 to reserve their spot or inquire about a sponsorship.

“Unveiling the Mask for Hope, Health and Healing” is the 19th-annual gala’s theme, signifying the OVHC’s desire to “unmask” the clinic’s impact on patients, as well as the staff and volunteers whose dedicated efforts make that impact possible.

Having started last summer, Boyd is one of the OVHC’s newer volunteer providers. She and her husband are both Navy veterans, and they moved to Richmond in 2007.

A Franciscan University of Steubenville alumna with bachelor’s and master’s degrees in nursing, Boyd donates four-to-five hours at the clinic every other Tuesday, after she leaves work in the afternoon. The later hours benefit many patients who can’t have appointments during the day because of their own jobs, Quillen noted.

Boyd, who sees four-to-eight patients per session, said she was encouraged to volunteer by Diann Schmitt, doctor of nursing practice and medical volunteer.

Boyd said the OVHC’s mission resonates with her: “To continue to provide care and give back to the community, especially those who are underinsured or have no insurance. … I don’t mind helping.”

“We are so happy to have her here,” Quillen said. “She jumped in and has just been part of the team from the very beginning. … She does diabetic foot care, and a lot of our patient base is diabetics. Crystal brings a lot of gifts to the table. … We’re grateful for her willingness to take on whatever type of patient walks through the doors.”

“Basically anyone that I saw before I met Crystal (gave a misdiagnosis),” Scholl said. “She took one look at me and knew exactly what was wrong, and I’ve been on that path ever since. It’s been a good path.”