Saint Joseph Community Health Fund

Helping Those Who are Medically Uninsured, Underinsured, or Underserved

In 1996, The Foundation of Saint Joseph Regional Medical Center identified the need to create a permanent, endowed fund to support residents of Marshall County. Since 1999, the Saint Joseph Health Center has existed to assist those who are medically uninsured, underinsured and underserved in Marshall County. The need for access to quality healthcare continues to be great as healthcare laws and providers continually change.

The Saint Joseph Community Health Fund was first established with gifts from Saint Joseph's Hospital of Marshall County (now Saint Joseph Regional Medical Center-Plymouth) and the Saint Joseph's Hospital Auxiliary. It serves as the Health Center's endowment to ensure, along with the support of Saint Joseph Regional Medical Center, that patients of Marshall County are able to receive the healthcare they need regardless of their ability to pay.

With individual gifts and years of fundraising through The Foundation of SJRMC's Catch the Spirit Gala event, the Fund has grown along with its impact on local residents in need of healthcare. Marshall County residents have contributed to the endowed fund knowing their gifts are providing a lifetime of support for the Health Center.

Today, the Health Center is staffed by five employees, including a volunteer medical director and nurse practitioner and over nine volunteers who spend hours each week assisting with patient visits, answering the telephone, greeting patients and visitors, supporting the work in the medication assistance program and eligibility program. The Health Center has served over 23,000 patients through the years. The Saint Joseph Health Center has been a United Way Agency since 2010 and partners with many other agencies to help meet the transportation, living, nutrition, and economic needs of patients.

Photo: After operating for 14 years out of facilities on Washington St (Plymouth), the Health Center relocated in 2014 to the new Community Resource Center (CRC). The move fulfills a dream of Dr Rev Ronald Liechty and the late Dr. Kent Guild, 2001 Community Spirit Award recipient, to see the Center easily accessible to impoverished and uninsured populations that most use the clinic’s outreach services.