WAUSAU — Peoples State Bank recently donated $5,000 to the First Presbyterian Church of Wausau’s Free Clinic construction project.
“Access to healthcare is an important issue in the Wausau region, and we’re committed to providing our support to ensure its availability,” said Mark Oldenberg, chief financial officer of Peoples State Bank, in a news release.
When complete, the free clinic will be housed in the lower level of the First Presbyterian Church in downtown Wausau. The clinic will serve the underserved populations, such as the homeless, immigrants, and those with transportation, health and other issues that serve as obstacles to healthcare access.
The clinic will be volunteer driven, staffed by unpaid medical personnel, including Dr. Jeff Oswald; Paula Vogt, registered nurse; Rosemary Benson, registered nurse; and Jeffrey Todd, manager of Catholic Charities Warming Center. While awaiting their permanent location, volunteers opened an outreach clinic at Catholic Charities Warming Center.
“After opening our outreach clinic, we were overwhelmed with the positive response,” Todd said. “As we expected, we have found some significant unmet medical issues among those we have served.”
The renovation project is expected to cost $240,000, with the volunteers more than halfway to the goal. They expect to reach the goal and open the permanent clinic in late 2019.
Photo courtesy Peoples State Bank. Jan Mueller, Peoples State Bank retail sales & business development officer, far left, and Janel Thoune, Peoples State Bank assistant vice president of marketing, far right, are joined by Chuck Schlitz, Rev. Rachel Wann, and Jeffrey Todd of First Presbyterian Church and the Wausau Free Clinic.
