Enthusiasm fills the hallways behind the reception desk at the
Helen M. Nickless Volunteer Clinic – a health practice serving people without insurance.
Patients and volunteers start arriving a few minutes before the weekly clinic opens at 4 p.m. on a recent Wednesday. The patients sign in, take a number, and find a seat in the waiting room.
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Ashley BrownClinic Coordinator Kathy DePrekel is one of three per-diem employees of the clinic. It takes about a dozen volunteers to staff the clinic each Wednesday. In all, about 50 people volunteer at the clinic.Volunteer Joyce Hardy was there the first night of the clinic in March 2004. More than 20 years later, she’s still a part of it. On this night, Hardy sits with Carolyn Krebs as the two check people in, pull medical charts, and alert Clinic Coordinator Kathy DePrekel when a first-time patient arrives.
Nearby, in the hallway leading to exam rooms, doctors and nurses arrive to donate their time at the clinic, hugging each other and catching up on the news from the last week. Registered nurses Susan Klett and Patti Freed greet visitors, talk to Hardy and Krebs, and check supply shelves.
The easily-identifiable theme running through all this activity is how much these people love what they’re doing.
“This is all fun,” DePrekel says. “The patients are so nice. They get to be our family. I’ve had nurses say ‘I love coming here.’"
While DePrekel walks down the hallway giving visitors a tour, she stops to greet a long-time patient. Hardy and Krebs excitedly await the arrival of a patient who’s been approved for health insurance. Medical staff volunteering their time say this is one of the best parts of their week.
“We are so lucky,” DePrekel says.
The Helen M. Nickless Volunteer Clinic serves people who have no health insurance. Clinic staff help patients determine if they're eligible for insurance and guide them through the application process.
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Ashley BrownMedical supplies line the shelves of a room behind the reception desk at the Helen M. Nickless Volunteer Clinic.
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Ashley BrownJoyce Hardy has been part of the clinic since its very first day. Today, she's one of the volunteers working behind the reception desk.The health issues people here face are the same as at any office in town, Klett says. If you ask about specific chronic conditions, she answers yes each time.
“It’s no different from any other clinic,” she says.
Patients come to the clinic for everything from follow-up care after a hospital visit to treatment for a chronic condition.
From March 2004 to September 2024, 10,907 people sought care at the clinic, resulting in 33,086 visits. The value of those visits is estimated at $3.6 million. From October 2024 to September 2024 alone, the clinic saw an average 16 patients each Wednesday. Those patients accounted for 798 visits, valued at more than $96,000.
In the first year the clinic was open – before the Affordable Care Act was passed – the clinic saw an average of 57 patients each night. The average number of patients each night peaked at 62 in 2008-09. Today, DePrekel worries what will happen if the Affordable Care Act is repealed.
If the clinic didn’t exist, 63% of patients say they would simply go without care. Another 17% would go to a hospital emergency room while 17% would try to find a physician.
The clinic is possible only thanks to the efforts of 175 volunteers, giving more than 2,000 hours of service each year, and millions of dollars in donations.
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Ashley BrownDuring the day, these exam rooms are part of a traditional physician's office. Every Wednesday, they become space for the Helen M. Nickless Volunteer Clinic.First, the volunteers.
There are 20 active providers and 26 nurses on the volunteer roster.
In addition to General Practitioners, Nurse Practitioners, and Physician Assistants, specialists such as Cardiologists, Endocrinologists, Nephrologists, Rheumatologists, Mental Health Counselors, and Behavioral Health Providers donate their services as needed.
“I wish we had a gynecologist,” DePrekel says. “We’re always trying to find more practitioners.”
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Ashley BrownHardy takes a slice of dessert. Area churches and other organizations provide dinner for the volunteers at the clinic every Wednesday.Each night, about a dozen people staff the clinic.
Three of those, including DePrekel, are employed at the clinic on a per-diem basis. Altogether, the trio’s time adds up to one full-time employee. These three are responsible for tasks such as overseeing clinic operations, arranging for medical and dental referrals, offering prescription assistance, and scheduling volunteers.
Next, the donations.
The clinic doesn’t run on volunteers alone. Help from the community is key.
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Ashley BrownAt the clinic, the team treats medical issues, but also offers help filling out forms to qualify for insurance.For example, the Nickless Clinic partners with
Maplewood Pharmacy, 920 N. Johnson St. in Bay City, to buy prescriptions at just above cost. Even with that discount, the clinic spends about $250,000 a year on medicine for patients. Many of the patients face chronic, long-time conditions requiring regular doses of medicine.
Most Wednesdays, local churches and others bring in a hot dinner for the volunteers. On this night, the meal is lasagna, salad, and dessert from
First Presbyterian Church, 805 Center Ave. in Bay City.
Community support means much more than delivering medical care to people.
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Ashley BrownMcLaren offers free Community Health programs in a classroom near the Helen M. Nickless Volunteer Clinic. Patients often are referred to Community Health programs to learn more about healthy habits.When DePrekel interviews new patients, she asks what else they need. Often, the answer is food. As a result, late in 2024, the clinic converted one room into a pantry for patients. The pantry is stocked with canned goods, soup, dry pasta, soap, peanut butter and jelly.
Much of the food came from the
Food Bank of Eastern Michigan and
Hidden Harvest.
Michigan Sugar donated 500 pounds of sugar. There are even a few disposable cake pans filled with the ingredients to make a cake, along with a Happy Birthday message.
A small chest freezer is available when needed. DePrekel said they’re looking for a donated refrigerator.
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Ashley BrownThe Food Bank of Eastern Michigan and Hidden Harvest also donated items to the pantry for patients.Donations are the key to funding since the clinic doesn’t collect co-pays, insurance reimbursement, or government dollars.
Lynn Weaver, Vice President at the
McLaren Bay Medical Foundation, says the community has backed the clinic from the very beginning.
The clinic opened in March 2004. In 2005, the McLaren Bay Medical Foundation raised $4 million for the clinic and it was named in memory of Helen M. Nickless. Posters still hang in a staff area of the clinic explaining the lives of Nickless and her husband, Art.
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Ashley BrownThe pantry includes stocks cleaning and personal hygiene supplies for patients who need them.Today, much of that original $4 million is treated like an endowment to provide ongoing funding. Donors continue to contribute to keep the doors open.
“Every drop of it is really needed,” Weaver says. “They just do amazing work.”
They also know they aren’t reaching everyone.
“We know we don’t serve everyone who needs our help,” Weaver says. “If we could get more people to know about us and come here, we’d be happy.”
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Ashley BrownMichigan Sugar donated bags of sugar to the pantry.One way the Nickless staff gets the word out is through Community Health programs. Community Health and the Nickless Clinic each operate out of the Medical Mall at 1458 W. Center Road in Essexville.
Laura Love, the Community Outreach Specialist for McLaren who runs education programs and health screenings in an office near the front of the building, says she doesn’t check insurance status and doesn’t charge for programs. Community Health programs are open to all, regardless of insurance status.
“The (McLaren Bay Medical) Foundation funds all of this,” Love says.
Community Health is at the front of the building, just a few steps away from the Nickless Clinic. Inside Community Health, rows of tables fill the center of the room, facing a screen. On the side are screened-off areas for privacy.
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Ashley BrownRecently, the clinic opened a pantry to help patients facing food insecurity.Here, experts present information about health topics and answer questions. Love says it’s a great place to get accurate information. People ask about what they’ve heard on commercials or from friends. Robotic-assisted surgery is a frequent topic.
If someone finds something during a screening and doesn’t have insurance, Love sends them over to Nickless. Likewise, when Nickless patients need more information, DePrekel refers them to Community Health.
“We have a really good relationship,” Love says.
Privacy concerns make it difficult to tell individual stories of people at the clinic, but Weaver shared one from a recent fundraising appeal.
Suzi, a Nickless Clinic patient, says the clinic has improved her life.
“Without this service I feel I would be worse off, if not dead. I needed help and you helped. I will be forever grateful for you guys. Thank you for all your kindness and generous help. I’m so appreciative of the help when I needed it. I was lost and unsure of how I was going to get better. Thank you all.”