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When Dr. Hunt arrived in Payson three years ago, she realized that she had a serious dilemma. Since Payson is a rural community, it lacks the social services support that larger cities like nearby Phoenix take for granted. She said, "I had no counselors or social workers. If I had an elderly person who was no longer able to take care of herself in the home, could no longer drive, get dressed, or do other everyday tasks, I had no one to refer her to. Normally, social workers would have resources and would help mediate with the family. But I didn't have any of that." Dr. Hunt remembered the story of Moses and his model of asking leaders in the Israelite community to help with leadership tasks. She began to pray, "Lord, I can't do all of this. You don't expect me to do this alone, so where are you going to provide those who can help?" Gradually, God began providing a way. Dr. Hunt remembered reading an article about physicians who had formed relationships with different churches to help patients. She also began drawing ideas for solutions from her background. "I grew up in a small community that had little access to physicians," she says, "and my grandfather was a pastor in that small community. I grew up watching him do a lot of the social needs in his ministry. When God sent me to Payson, I had no social workers or any kind of ancillary help. I turned to the churches in the community to help me cope with taking care of my patients with their social needs and also for spiritual needs. Basically, I had nowhere else to turn." Along with her commitment to her local church, she established a rapport with five pastors to provide further spiritual care for her patients. Now she began building a network with these pastors. She says of these godly men, "I'm dealing with quiet warriors. These are people who have master's degrees, who make $30,000, and who are ministering quietly in very difficult places in ways that I'm not sure I could do." Now that she's been in Payson for three years, she knows which churches will help her with which areas of patient need and counseling. One of the churches helps by funding prescription costs; another provides transportation; and a third has a stocked food pantry. Other churches offer willing counselors. For example, a fifteen-year-old patient came in with anorexia. Because Payson is such a sheltered community, anorexia is hard for people to understand. The family didn't know what to do, and Dr. Hunt realized they were going to need support to see them through the crisis. She asked the mother, "Do you have any church support?" The mother explained that the family had just begun attending one of the churches in town. Dr. Hunt answered, "This isn't a coincidence. It sounds like God is reaching out to you in your crisis." After more counseling, the mother accepted Christ with Dr. Hunt. She referred the whole family to one of the counselors from the church the family had been attending. The father and the 15-year-old accepted Christ with the counselor. Today, the family is doing very well. Dr. Hunt has set up a referral process for her patients who need ongoing care. When she identifies the problem as something more than she can handle in her office, she asks if the patient is willing to see one of the pastors in town. If she receives a positive response, she refers the patient to a pastor. Then she confers with the pastor to find out if he or someone in his church is available to meet the patient's need. With the patient's permission, she tells the pastor where the patient is in the spiritual or physical crisis. When the parties agree to meet, Dr. Hunt fills out a regular form in her office. She explains, "This is the same referral form we fill out for any medical specialist. The form validates and gives respect to the referral. My front office will even make the appointment. I've made the process of going to the pastor the same as going to any other specialist to help patients understand that I think it's just as important as any other referral I give them." Dr. Hunt also gives the pastors an option to give her patients back. The pastors send her people from their churches who don't have health insurance, need care in a crisis, or who need a return visit after she has referred them to the pastor. Dr. Hunt relates one success story of an abused woman who came in from a women's Time Out shelter. She was referred to Dr. Hunt because she was withdrawing from speed. During the process of her medical treatment, she accepted Christ, then entered a drug rehab program. Meanwhile, the pastor who referred her was counseling her abusive husband. While the pastor was sharing Christ with the husband, he didn't know whether the man was going to hit him or accept Christ. But he did accept Christ, and eventually the husband and wife were reconciled and are growing in the Lord. The care network established in Payson is making an eternal difference in many lives.
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Board
certified in internal medicine and pediatrics, Judy Hunt, M.D., practices
family medicine with the Samaritan Health Clinic in Payson, Arizona, a
multi-specialty clinic. Payson is a small community of 15,000 people
with about 15,000 more in the surrounding small communities. 