Community Health Ministry

Columbia St. Mary's employs three nurses to work in collaboration with churches and community organizations to improve the health of individuals and the community in general. Brenda Buchanan, Teresa Flaherty and Julia Means provide health education, health screening, care management and health crisis support to members of sponsoring churches and through a variety of outreach programs affiliated with the churches.

Brenda Buchanan serves Three Holy Women parish, consisting of sites at Our Lady of the Holy Rosary, St. Hedwig’s and St. Rita’s churches. Brenda is assisted by a Health Ministry Cabinet of parishioners who advise her regarding the interests and needs of the parish members. An important part of the work is support to Three Holy Women’s outreach to older adults and to impoverished people in their community. Milwaukee Catholic Home has provided funding support for this parish nursing position, as have numerous local foundations.

Teresa Flaherty is sponsored by the Cathedral of St. John and Old St. Mary Church in the downtown area of Milwaukee. She also serves parishioners of Our Lady of Divine Providence Parish in Riverwest. Teresa provides services to the outreach ministries of the churches at a senior nutrition site, a St. Vincent de Paul ministry, a food pantry and the Open Door Cafe, a lunch program for the homeless and poor. She coordinates programs of support for bereavement, visiting the sick and homebound, health education, flu shots, blood drives and services to older adults as part of the community services of her sponsoring parishes. Teresa developed a monthly spirituality and faith-sharing group for older adults called Aging: The Opportunity of a Lifetime and a monthly healthy living discussion group called Whole and Holy to support the ongoing health promotion efforts of her parishioners.

Julia Means serves Ebenezer Church of God in Christ, Solomon Community Methodist Church and New Life Presbyterian Church in Milwaukee’s central city. She also provides support to Clinton Rose Senior Center, the Adult Literacy Center and Martin Luther King Elementary School. Julia runs a health education and screening clinic based at the New Life Food Pantry. She developed the Kids of Nia character development program at Martin Luther King School as well as the Blanket of Love prenatal care and parenting education program at Ebenezer Church.

At each of their churches, the Community Health Ministry nurses serve as a health care safety net for members in health crisis, helping them to navigate health systems and service providers.

Patient Stories

Parish Nursing
Chuck is a 64-year-old Italian male that was born and continues to reside in the Brady street neighborhood of Milwaukee. Even though he has lived here is whole life, he no longer has any family around.For the past year and a half I have gotten to know Chuck through my work at Three Holy Women as a parish nurse. Chuck has a history of high blood pressure and Type 2 diabetes but has not always followed the plan that doctors prescribe for him. He currently does not have any insurance so often does not fill all of his prescriptions because of the cost. He lives in senior housing where he is able to get subsidized rent, as his only income is his social security check. Chuck called me one early afternoon to complain that he had been in the hospital for a stroke but had been just released and was experiencing numbness in his left arm, leg and face. I encouraged him to call 911 but he would not until I came over. I arrived and he was complaining of being dizzy and was unable to stand without assistance because of his dizziness. He was very anxious and wanted to go back to the hospital. We returned to the ER where they readmitted him for continuation of the stroke. 

During his hospitalization it became clear that he was not going to be able to take his medication because of his decrease in vision because of the stroke. He was now also on Insulin which he hadn’t been on before. I was able to work with the social worker and diabetes nurse to get his insulin down to once per day. With education he did learn to administer his insulin once a day at bedtime. Once he discharged he was sent home with all of his medication but again was not able to read the bottles to see what he was taking. I have been able to set up his medications once per week so that he is able to take them appropriately. He is knowledgeable regarding the types of meds he takes but just not able to read the labels. 

He continues to seek out other medical professionals because is not satisfied with his current progress and although he is physically very strong his vision is really the biggest obstacle he has. He is not willing to accept that the brain injury from the stroke is the cause of his vision problems and that glasses will not totally fix the problem.

I continue to work with Chuck several times per week to assist with his medication set up and doctors’ appointments. There is a social worker in the apartment building in which he lives that is able to help with bill payment and follow up.  At this point I will continue my work with Chuck to offer emotional and spiritual support as well in hopes that soon he will be able to accept his current health situation.

 -As told by a parish nurse from Columbia St. Mary’s Hospital, Milwaukee

When Is a Group Home Not a Group Home?
By Julia Means

Josephine is a fifty-five year old woman who comes to see me regularly for blood pressure checks at the Clinton Rose Senior Center. She told me that she lived in a group home since she had not fully recovered from a previous stroke.

One Monday, she came to see me at Clinton Rose because she felt dizzy and faint. When I took her blood pressure, I found it was extremely elevated at 180/120. I called her “group home” for further information. The staff there said, “Oh, she gets that all the time, just send her home on the van and she will be all right.” I wasn’t comfortable with that and took her to a hospital emergency room. There, she received immediate help and her blood pressure came down significantly. When I explored things further with the group home, I found that she had run out of medication five days ago. I also found that, in fact, the “group home” was not a licensed group home but an arrangement where she would be “looked in on” periodically. They did not supervise her medications, but left the medication management to Josephine alone.

When I informed Josephine’s daughter about all of these things, she was very concerned. She made arrangements to meet with Josephine and her physician and also started looking into other living arrangements. By Wednesday, Josephine was moved into an assisted living arrangement where the staff would actually supervise her medications and help to control her blood pressure and hopefully avoid future strokes. I was happy that Josephine had enough trust in me to have approached me and to have allowed me to serve as her advocate in this time of crisis.

Building Trust
By Teresa Flaherty

Parish nursing is all about relationships and trust. I have known Gertrude for more than six years, almost the entire time I have been in ministry as a parish nurse. Gertrude, who is 87-years-old, lives alone in a studio apartment in downtown Milwaukee. She never married and has some family none of whom live nearby and none of whom assist in her care. While she is friendly and outgoing, she has only one friend -another woman, also in her eighties, who lives in her building.

Our relationship began when she and her friend would stop by occasionally at a neighborhood senior nutrition site to have their blood pressure taken. They never stayed for lunch preferring instead to go out on their own. From those infrequent encounters, our relationship has grown to the point where I now hear from her at least once a week and see her several times a month. I have seen her through breast cancer, which required a mastectomy, and a second hip fracture and subsequent hip replacement surgery, which left her dependent on a walker. I have solicited volunteers to bring her communion when she could not get out and to drive her to church when the weather was too bad or if it was too dark to walk. I have assisted her with her applications for rent assistance and Senior Care. I help her interpret her medical bills and help her advocate for herself at doctor's appointments. In an effort to maintain the last of her meager savings, I assisted her in disenrolling from an expensive secondary insurance policy and into a medical assistance program.

She remains fiercely independent and guards her privacy, allowing me to do only what she cannot do for herself. She has learned to trust an outsider and let someone else into the private areas of her life. I have helped her increase her connection to her faith, community and helped her to maintain her independence. She rewards me with hugs and the occasional cookie or piece of candy, but most of all with her trust and her continued wellness.

Partnerships

• Adult Literacy Center
• BRANCH OUT Churches
• Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist
• Catholic Community Foundation
• Clinton Rose Senior Center
• Ebenezer Church of God in Christ
• Medical College of Wisconsin
• Milwaukee Catholic Home
• New Life Presbyterian
• Old St. Mary Catholic Parish
• Our Lady of Divine Providence Parish
• Solomon United Methodist Church

Contact Information

Brenda Buchanan
c/o Three Holy Women Catholic Church
1716 N. Humboldt
Milwaukee, WI 53202

T: (414) 416-1201
E: bbuchanan@threeholywomen.org

Teresa Flaherty
c/o Old St. Mary's Church
835 N. Milwaukee
Milwaukee, WI 53202

E: teresa@core.com
T: (414) 347-1959

Julia Means
c/o Ebenezer C.O.G.I.C.
3132 N. Martin Luther King Dr.
Milwaukee, WI 53212

E: meansju@ad.com
T: (414) 840-8893

Referrals
The Community Health Ministry nurses can be reached to discuss their programs, care of their church members and referrals to their programs through the phone numbers listed above. Bill Solberg, Director of Community Services, can also be reached to discuss their programs and services through (414) 326-2660.