Health care on the high seas

GALVESTON — On a night in June, a small crew of students from the University of Texas Medical Branch set sail from Galveston, with medical supplies in tow, to the small coastal town of Seadrift, marking the maiden voyage of the Coastal Community Care project, a floating, free health care clinic dedicated to improving the health of those living in remote areas along the Gulf Coast.

The CCC project, a collaborative effort of the medical branch’s Sailing Club and the HLK Memorial Sailing School, is made up of health care students, physicians, residents and volunteers who are involved in sailing and share a passion for improving health care in coastal fishing villages along the Texas, Louisiana and Mexican coasts.

“We sailed from Galveston to Seadrift, located on San Antonio Bay, that is without easy access to the most basic of primary care,” said Christopher Romero, medical branch Sailing Club president and a student in the M.D./Ph.D. program.

“We set up a booth at their annual shrimp festival and did blood pressure, blood glucose and health screenings. We tested 77 people over the course of two days, made new friends and had a blast in the process.”

Cindy Alford, Seadrift Chamber of Commerce president, welcomed the medical branch crew and applauded their efforts to make a difference in the health care of its residents.

The crew consisted of sail club members Romero, Latham Fink, Konstantin Tsetsarkin and David Darrow; ethnographic researcher Stevi Darrow and Scott Weaver, CCC faculty sponsor and sail club director.

Weaver is scientific director of the Galveston National Laboratory.

“Many in our community do not have insurance or transportation and are not able to go to the doctor when they have a need,” Alford said.

“It was great having the CCC group here to inform our community and do wellness checks.

“We had positive feedback from our citizens and we look forward to seeing the team again.”

The CCC’s focus is on treating acute illnesses, such as infections and flu, and addressing the underlying social and economic causes of chronic disease, as well as exposing medical students and residents to the challenges of serving rural populations.

“The CCC project being developed by the UTMB Sailing Club is a great way to provide our students with a unique health care opportunity with some offshore sailing experience along the way,” Weaver said.

“The program extends our institutional presence and mission into a part of Texas where we are not well known.

“Seadrift is a relatively remote, poor, fisheries-based community in South Texas with no health care provider, so its residents have to travel far even for primary care.

“Our students may be the only source of education and screening available to detect and prevent diseases that would otherwise go unnoticed until an acute event occurs.

“The program also exposes UTMB students to a rural population and primary health care setting that they are unlikely to experience in the typical tertiary care, urban training environment of an academic medical center. It’s a real win-win program on several levels.”

The CCC is seeking grants, donations and volunteers to support its future excursions and is looking to expand its sailing fleet to serve a larger population.

“This is really an opportunity for the entire UTMB community to get involved in rural health care,” Fink said.

“We are interested in nursing students, physician assistants, anyone who has an interest in sailing and doing this kind of care — just about everybody could contribute to this project.”

The group also is looking for physicians who would like to volunteer, sail and help teach medical students.

For information, e-mail lhfink(at)utmb.edu.