Outreach Clinic director wants to serve more

Story and photo by DEREK MAUL | The Brandon News
Published: August 10, 2011

Deborah Meegan has been executive director at the Brandon Outreach Clinic for 10 years.

She has worked tirelessly to extend health care to the increasing number of Brandon residents who work hard and do their best, yet cannot afford medical services.

"When I started, we were open two half-days a week," Meegan said. "Today we see patients four days a week, all day long."

The numbers add up to about 210 appointments per month for primary care, plus referrals in the community, labs and case management.

"We're talking about 8,400 people a year," Meegan said. "We have close to 100 doctors who volunteer. Then, in addition, nurses, nurse practitioners, physicians' assistants, pharmacists and lab techs."

With a 2011 budget of just $230,000, Meegan's team delivers significantly more than $2 million worth of health care. One recent accounting documented a value ratio of 11 to 1.

Yet Meegan reported the clinic will fall well short of budget in 2011 receipts.

"We're extremely frugal," she said, "and we take good care of our resources. But more people need care."

Born at Eglin Air Force Base in the Florida panhandle, Meegan lived wherever the Army sent her helicopter pilot dad.

She attended Pensacola College and then Florida State University, where she graduated in 1974 with a degree in social work. She interned in Tampa and was hired by the state in welfare eligibility.

"Then I worked in child support enforcement," Meegan said.

She discovered Brandon in 1979, lured by affordable housing and the unspoiled beauty. "I thought I'd moved to the end of the earth. Horse pastures, dairies, woods, parks, trees, cows — it had a very rustic appeal and was just beautiful."

The "unspoiled" part of the equation was short-lived. "As soon as I moved out here, oh my gosh!" she said. "The development leveled acres by the hundreds."

In 1984 Meegan was recruited by Brandon Regional Hospital to help secure funding for patients unable to navigate the various and confusing state and federal assistance programs.

"I was like a hero," she said. "People received care and the hospital got paid. Everyone was happy."

By 2001 Meegan had supplemented her unique skill set and love for helping people with a master's in business administration from the University of Phoenix. Taking the reins at the Brandon Outreach Clinic turned out to be the perfect next step.

The clinic, which has been serving Brandon's medically indigent for 22 years, has four distinct functions: determining eligibility, medical exams, the lab and the pharmacy.

"I think we have a stellar clinic," Meegan said. "It's just awesome in terms of what we're able to offer, and it's a wonderful team effort.

The facility, leased for $1 a year from Hillsborough County, is finishing up a major renovation made possible by funding, materials and labor donated by the Brandon Rotary Club.

While Meegan's great challenges are resources and visibility, her greatest joy is the enthusiastic cadre of faithful volunteers.

"Oh my gosh," she said. "I'm renewed every single day by their joyous service."

Along with the joy comes the pain, and Meegan's heart is broken by the knowledge that people suffer and die because they can't or don't know how to access medical care.

"I think of one woman with breast cancer," Meegan said. "By the time we saw her, the tumor weighed 34 pounds. She died and she didn't need to. It makes me cry."

Deborah and Michael Meegan started a blended family in 1989, and between them they have five young adult children.

She loves to travel, visit grandchildren, stay at the beach and entertain. But, above all, she is optimistic and full of faith.

"You have to be optimistic," Meegan said. "We only have today, this moment."