The way James Reynolds tells it, he is at Good Samaritan Respite Center because of Director Donna Moore and God.
"She came and talked to me" at Walton Rehabilitation Hospital, where he was recovering from hip surgery, he said. "I liked her, and she liked me. She was telling me about this place, and we were talking about the Lord and what God can do."
The center will be able to do even more thanks to St. Joseph Foundation, which this week made nearly $82,000 in grants to several faith-based health care groups such as Coordinated Health Services, which oversees the respite center and St. Vincent dePaul Health Center. The foundation also made grants to Miracle Making Ministries Inc., the Alzheimer's Association of East Central Georgia, Christ Community Health Services Augusta Inc., and Care Management Consultants Inc. The foundation did not disclose the individual amount of the grants.
The foundation's mission is to help provide care for the homeless and the uninsured and to promote hospice care, said board Chairwoman Mary Hill Gary.
For the respite center and St. Vincent health center, the grants will help to cover the cost of prescription drugs, which runs about $6,000 a month, said George Foster, the chairman of the board for Coordinated Health.
"It's a major expense for us," he said.
Many of their patients can't afford the drugs they are prescribed, and by going to the centers, it keeps them from returning to the hospital emergency rooms for routine care, Mr. Foster said.
"We're saving the hospitals a ton of money, but we're also saving the taxpayers a lot of money on an annual basis," he said.
"Thank goodness they come to us first so we can prevent that," said Sister Fran Voivedich, the outreach nurse for St. Vincent.
The patients also get ongoing care for their chronic conditions, she said.
In Mr. Reynolds' case, it is getting physical therapy and getting to the point where the 68-year-old can walk around a little easier and return to his home in Williston, S.C., Ms. Moore said.
"He doesn't need to be in a nursing home," she said. "We're hoping we can get him somewhat independent and being able to do some things."
The St. Joseph Foundation has taken on a more significant role since St. Joseph Hospital was sold and became Trinity Hospital of Augusta, Ms. Gary said.
"Most of us have supported the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet all of our lives," she said. "Since we do not have that figurehead of St. Joseph Hospital, this group has decided to continue those works."
The order has always sought to care for those in need, said Sister Elizabeth Ney, the executive director of the foundation.
"That was our reason for coming into Augusta originally because there was a need for faith-based health care," she said. "The need today is, for those who are uninsured, to get at least some kind of primary health care. We're just helping those organizations that are doing that."
The order, which was founded in France and came to Augusta around 1840, will be able to carry on its mission through these groups and the foundation, Sister Voivedich said.
"Even though the hospital has (sold), even when all of the sisters are gone, we will still have our mission," she said.
The foundation carries on that legacy, Sister Voivedich said.
Reach Tom Corwin at (706) 823-3213 or tom.corwin@augustachronicle.com.
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