From Nancy Ripp Clark Sally Pilkerton and Ray Pilkerton cut the ribbon to the Ophthalmology Clinic on Wednesday at Mercy Health Clinic in Gaithersburg.

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From Nancy Ripp Clark Ophthalmology Clinic equipment

From Nancy Ripp Clark Sally Pilkerton and Ray Pilkerton cut the ribbon to the Ophthalmology Clinic on Wednesday at Mercy Health Clinic in Gaithersburg.

 

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Gladstone Botsoe of Germantown sat in a hallway of Mercy Health Clinic in Gaithersburg on Wednesday, waiting for his first eye exam since before he lost his job more than two years ago.

Botsoe has diabetes and it causes problems with his vision, he said; he wanted to see if he needed a new prescription for his lenses.

Down the hall, ophthalmologist Raymond Pilkerton cut a ribbon and stepped through the doorway to his new eye exam room.

Botsoe was to be Pilkerton’s first ophthalmology patient in his new volunteer position as the clinic’s lead ophthalmologist.

With the grand opening of the exam room in the clinic at 7 Metropolitan Court, Suite 1, the nearly 150 patients on the clinic’s waiting list will be seen about twice as quickly as they would have.

The exam room was funded through a $25,000 grant from the Philip Graham Foundation. All equipment, new and used, was provided by Norfolk, Va.-based Lombart Instruments.

Pilkerton and his wife, Sally, of Potomac, are among the more than 65 volunteer physicians and aids at the clinic. Sally, a registered nurse, will assist her husband in helping patients.

The clinic is one of 11 in the county that receives funding through Montgomery Cares. The clinics provide primary health care services at low or no cost to county residents.

To qualify for care at Mercy, residents must live in the county, be at least 18 years old, not have health insurance, and have a total household income of equal to or less than 250 percent of the poverty level established by the federal government. The establish level is $27,925 for a single person and $57,625 for a four-person family.

About 45 percent of Mercy’s budget comes from Montgomery Cares, according to Alvina E. Long, a co-founder of the clinic; the rest comes from private donations. The 2011 budget was $1,008,805, Long said.

Unlike other clinics that receive funding from Montgomery Cares, Mercy provides more than just primary physician care in-house, such as diabetes care and dermatology services, said Nancy Ripp Clark, medical director of the clinic.

With the exam room, the clinic is one step closer to its goal of being the complete medical home that will house all of the specialty services a patient needs, Long said.

Before, Mercy used to have to refer clients needing eye exams to Pilkerton’s practice in Rockville. Pilkerton is the founder of Retina Group of Washington, and only was able to treat the referals every other Saturday.

Pilkerton now will see 10 to 12 patients every other Wednesday at Mercy, checking for vision problems, glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy — damage to the retina that is caused by diabetes.

Now retired, Pilkerton will double his volunteer time.

He said he volunteers because it is something that he has time to do and enjoys.

He also will help the clinic recruit more in his field to volunteer their time, he said.

About 70 percent of the patients he sees have diabetic retinopathy, Pilkerton said.

Because patients will be seen sooner, there will be less time for their condition to worsen, which is crucial, Ripp Clark said.

“It enables them to get the care they need before there is harm done,” she said.

Mercy also conducts sessions to teach people how to manage their diabetes, Long said.

Botsoe, a father of three, had a job interview before his exam Wednesday.

Until he finds a job that offers health care, the clinic will continue to provide services he needs, he said.

“Mercy Clinic is doing an awesome, very good job at helping people,” Botsoe said.

jbondeson@gazette.net