Part 1: Ashland Free Medical Clinic

To begin, I need to express my heartfelt gratitude that I have been asked to share about the Ashland Free Medical Clinic (AFMC). Sathya Sai Baba, who is my role model, inspired this clinic. Putting Sai Baba’s teachings into practice has had a tremendous and very positive impact on my life. It helped me go from a life of self-interest to a life where I am more concerned about the welfare of others.

Sai Baba has said, “The hands that serve are greater than the lips that pray.” [1] Although I pray and meditate on a regular basis, as he has also recommended, this teaching about serving others resonates very deeply to my core.

Helping Others As a Spiritual Path

I believe that helping others is the best way to transform my life and reach the goal of human existence. What is that goal? The goal is to realize and experience that everything is God; this divinity is present as our very core and is present in everyone we meet and in all of God’s creation. When we realize this, we can enjoy life to its fullest and still carry out our duties and serve society.

“Love all, serve all.” [2]

“Help ever, hurt never.” [3] 

“Follow your conscience.” [4]

These are simple and profound truths about the way we should live our lives. When these teachings are put into practice, it transforms our lives and brings joy beyond description.

Sai Baba has given very good advice to doctors. He has said that being able to access and receive medical care is everyone’s birthright. So, physicians should provide care to everyone, including those who cannot afford to pay for this care. He has also recommended that doctors devote one day per week to taking care of the poor who cannot afford medical care. Most important, he has taught us that in addition to giving patients the required medications or surgery as per our training, we should also give them the “capsule of love,” as that will help them heal faster and speed their progress. In addition he advises us to remember that service to our patients is service to God, and when we have this attitude, work is transformed into worship.

Searching for the Secret of Happiness

The Ashland Free Medical Clinic is a Sathya Sai Organization service project that opened its doors on 8 Jan 2005. Our clinic is open every Saturday for general medicine and dermatology and Wednesday evening for pediatrics. The preparation for this work, however, started many years before that.

In 1985 I was practicing the Transcendental Meditation technique. I worked as a physician specializing in dermatology in a small town by the name of Flower Mound, Texas. I also volunteered at The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, Texas, where I helped teach dermatology residents in training.

My private practice was very busy, and I had achieved some degree of name, fame, and position and had most of the materialistic things one could hope for.

I noticed that, having achieved all these things, none had given lasting happiness or peace of mind. I was looking for someone who could show me the road to real happiness and a life of purpose. This search started after I returned home after serving in the Naval Air Force as an airplane mechanic, back in 1970. I had a strong desire at that time to find a person who actually knew the secret of happiness and peace of mind and could show me the way. I started by learning Transcendental Meditation and practiced this technique for about 14 years and noted some good benefits. However, I knew I still had not found the path and spiritual teacher I was looking for.

Enter Sai Baba

In 1985, a dear friend told me about Sai Baba. I read a book about him, and after reading just a few pages, I knew that Sai Baba was the one I was looking for.

I booked a flight in the summer of 1986 to visit Sai Baba. Before I knew it, I was in India, and soon after I arrived, Sai Baba was standing in front of me and asking where I was from and speaking to me for some time and then materializing vibhuti (holy ash) for me. At the time I did not realize how fortunate I was to have this beautiful first meeting with Sai Baba. However, Baba’s love touched my heart in a very powerful way. I knew he was love incarnate, and as I continued to read about him and his teachings, I realized that his teachings were the highest truth – and so very practical and universal that they could be applied and practiced in every aspect of my daily life.

Right after my first meeting with Sai Baba, I went to his general hospital* next to the ashram and volunteered to see patients as a dermatologist. I don’t think they knew what to make of me. Who was this foreign doctor who wanted to volunteer at the hospital? There was no formal or even informal program to let foreign doctors work at the hospital at that time. Dr. Chari, the medical director at Sai Baba’s general hospital, asked me to read an x-ray. I imagined he was trying to find out if I was really a doctor. When I correctly identified a fracture, he allowed me to see one patient, who happened to be one of Baba’s students.*

After this first trip I returned a very happy man. I tried my best to start practicing Baba’s teachings, and noticed that they did have had a very powerful and positive affect on my life. Also, friends who knew about Sai Baba commented that I was perhaps the first doctor from overseas to be allowed to work at Baba’s hospital.

The Ego Lesson of Playing One’s Assigned Role

Thinking about this may have inflated my ego, which Sai Baba proceeded to flatten, right from the start of my next trip to see him several months later. I stayed in one of the large sheds (open, dormitory-like space) during my second visit, just as on my first visit. When a man lying next to me became ill, I brought him to the hospital for help. The next thing I knew, I was asked to be his nurse, or what we might call an orderly or patient aide, and also the cleaning person, during this person’s hospital stay. The doctor in charge of this gentleman’s care was a tall, stately, and highly intelligent doctor by the name of Dr. Kamala. Feeling that I was qualified to give medical advice, instead of just doing my duty as a nurse, aide, and cleaning person, as I had been asked to do, I began giving advice and recommendations about this person’s general care. In other words, I was not playing the role given me. I had been asked to work as an aide and orderly, not as a doctor. So, I was not performing my assigned role in the proper way. Although I had been asked to work as a doctor on my first visit, during my second visit I had been assigned the job of a nurse/aide/cleaning person.

Sai Baba was teaching me the importance of playing the role one is given and at the same time deflating my ego. Although this was a painful experience, it was also a wonderful learning process and the first of many interventions to flatten my ego. Shortly after this I was tested again in a similar manner back in the USA, and fortunately, I passed. The nurses at Kaiser Permanente, where I work, went on strike, and the docs needed to fill in as nurses at the hospital and in the emergency room. I was assigned duty as a nurse in the Kaiser Permanent Emergency Room in Hayward, California, which is an extremely busy ER. Thanks to my training in Sai Baba’s hospital, I was able to play the role of a substitute nurse and do my duty properly.

Even though I worked many shifts in the emergency room as a physician early in my career, I resisted the urge to give advice or work as a physician and instead followed doctor’s orders. I stayed with my role as a nurse, followed doctor’s orders, and carried out the important duties of a nurse during the strike.

Inspired to Offer Free Medical Care

I continued to visit Sai Baba in India as often as possible and eventually was allowed to work during my vacation time twice a year at his hospital as a dermatologist. After working there for a few years, I realized there were many people in my own local community who needed medical care and could not afford it. Knowing I would continue to serve at Baba’s hospital as a dermatologist, Baba also inspired me and many others to start a free clinic back home in my own neighborhood, in an area of great need.

It took about 18 months to start this free medical clinic, which included finding a suitable location, the needed volunteers, funding, and many other details, such as writing a 421-page policy and procedure manual, creating credential files for all volunteers, and passing a rigorous state inspection of our premises.

Once we had decided to start this free medical clinic, many things started to happen that were quite amazing. It was as if we had hit a start button that set a number of things in motion automatically. Many miracles started to occur, where human resources and money were provided, at just the right time. This has continued up to the present, 9 years later.

We were allowed to use a building rent free, money was provided without asking, and volunteers that we needed came forward to help start this free medical clinic.

As soon as word got out that I was planning to start a free medical clinic, Dr. Ramachandra, the chief of surgery at Hayward Kaiser Permanente came up to me and said, “Joe, I heard about your free clinic. How can I help? Count me in!” Baba must have known that I needed help to find many volunteers to help start this clinic, so he sent the help we needed.

The Miraculous Seed Money

When we were first discussing how the school would let us use a space for our medical clinic, a local government official came to this meeting after we had been discussing logistics for some time. He promptly announced, “Joe you are not going to believe this: our accountant just told us that he just found $100,000 dollars that we did not even know we had. He was not even sure how the money got there or where it came from; it just kind of materialized.” Have you ever heard a government official say that? He then proceeded to say, “As soon as this happened, we thought of the AFMC and decided we should give some of the money to you. I know it is not much money to start a medical clinic, but we would like to give you $10,000 as seed money to help start your clinic.”

Just prior to this meeting I had prayed for help with funding for our clinic, as we did not have any money at that time to start the clinic. I knew that what we needed would be provided, but I was not sure how. The way it happened was quite dramatic and unexpected.

Another Miraculous Boon

Shortly thereafter I was nominated for the David Lawrence Community Service Award from Kaiser Permanente, for planning to start the Ashland Free Medical Clinic. This award was a national award with the winner getting $10,000 for her/his charitable organization. This was in 2004, and there was only supposed to be one person awarded this money. I made it to the finals as one of the top three finalists. They announced the winner, and it was not me. It was another doctor who really deserved the award. I would have voted for him myself, if I had had a vote.

Then they said, “We also like the idea behind the AFMC and would like to give a little something to the AFMC,” even though there was just supposed to be only one winner. So, how much do you think “a little something” was? The winner received $10,000 and a three-month sabbatical, and for coming in second place they announced that the AFMC would receive $20,000! Now, how often does one hear of a second place winner getting more than a first place winner? Similar miracles have continued to occur over the past 9 years (since 2004), where human resources and money have been provided in a miraculous way, just when we need them.

God Provides an Extra Doctor

One Friday evening I realized we did not have enough doctors for the following morning. It was 10 pm and too late to call around and ask other doctors to come in the following morning. So I prayed: “Dear Lord, I have been a complete failure; I have not been able to get enough doctors for the clinic tomorrow. Please help us; it is too late for me to call my colleagues, since I might disturb their family by calling so late. Could you just have an extra doctor show up tomorrow morning?” With this prayer I went to bed and slept. The next day I came to the clinic and looked around for that “extra doctor” I had asked for, but that extra doctor was not there.

We always have a huddle to introduce all the volunteers to each other before we start the clinic. Just as the huddle was concluding, the “extra doc” I had prayed for showed up. When I saw her, I was so happy and thankful that I had to forcefully hold back a steam of tears that welled up in my eyes. I went over to this doctor and thanked her for coming in, and then I asked her how in the world did she know that we needed another doctor for that day’s clinic.

She then replied, “Last night at 10 pm, I suddenly got the urge to turn on the computer and then go to the AFMC website and see if you had enough volunteer doctors. When I saw you did not have enough doctors, I decided to sign up and come in this morning.” We have had many such miracles occur, where God has provided all the people we have needed, often right at the last moment.

The Miracle Translator

A similar incident happened on another Friday evening, when I realized we did not have enough Spanish volunteers for the following day. I was speaking to one of our volunteers by the name of Jonathan Gonzalez, late on Friday evening. We discussed how we did not have enough Spanish-speaking volunteers and some strategies we could use to find more. However, since we needed someone the very next day, we both agreed to pray to God to help us find another Spanish interpreter.

The very next day my first patient told me, “Doctor, my skin problem is completely healed; the only reason I came in was to tell you how thankful I am that you have given help when I needed it. I would like to give back to the clinic. I don’t have money to give, but I wondered if I can help in some other way as a volunteer.” When I found out that she spoke Spanish, we had the Spanish interpreter we had prayed for the preceding night.

On some occasions when we start the clinic, there have not been enough volunteers, and I have had to start calling people to see if they could help. With God’s grace, we have many volunteers who have been willing to cancel their plans and come in to help us on short notice.

Feeling God’s Presence

Such is the power of God in providing the needed resources to serve people in need. Some people comment that I have the magic touch when I ask people to volunteer at the clinic. I can only say that it is God’s grace alone that makes these things happen, and I can see and experience God’s hand in all of this.

There are others who feel this presence. One day one of our regular patients asked to speak with me. At first I was a bit afraid that he might have something to complain about, since he “demanded to see the medical director.” When this happens, it is not always good news! I asked this gentleman how I could help and what he would like to tell me.

This is what he said: “Doctor, I have to tell you something. Whenever I come to this clinic, I can feel God’s presence.” Patients feel this presence because of the love and devotion of so many wonderful volunteers.

The Difference That Compassion and Kindness Makes

On another occasion, two young women entered the clinic and asked to see the medical director. We had been caring for their grandmother, who we referred to the local county hospital when we determined that she needed medical care over and above what we could provide at our clinic. Their grandmother had died from a cancer that was diagnosed and treated at the local county hospital.

I silently wondered if they were upset with the care we had provided, since we were not the ones who diagnosed their grandmother’s cancer, although we suspected it might be the case, which was one of the reasons we referred her to the local county hospital.

This is what they told me, “Doctor, we just wanted to thank everyone at this clinic for the loving care that was provided for our grandmother. Before we brought her here, we could not find anyone to provide medical care for our grandmother. As a result, we both spent most of our time taking care of and worrying about our grandmother, who had many medical problems. Once we started to bring her here, we started to relax, since we knew she was receiving care, and receiving care with love and compassion. As a result of that, we both were able to go back to school to finish our education. After our grandmother’s death, we took some time to complete our grieving period, and now we are ready to resume our lives. We just wanted to thank all of you for the loving care you provided to our grandmother.”

This story illustrates the importance of kindness and compassion in health care. There is a saying, “People do not care how much a doctor knows, until they know how much a doctor cares.” This story also shows how people can accept an unfortunate outcome when they know that the health care team has provided the best care possible and, most important, has done so in a caring and compassionate manner.

Having Unity in Diversity Creates a Healing Atmosphere

So, where do we get all of these wonderful volunteers that make patients feel so welcomed and cared for? We have many volunteers from in the local community we serve. Some are former patients who are appreciative of the care they have received and want to give back and help out at the clinic. Many volunteers are my colleagues who work at Kaiser Permanente Medical Offices in Northern California. We also have a large number of volunteers from the Sathya Sai Baba Organization. All our volunteers are good people who enjoy helping others. They also have a desire to give back to society out of gratitude for the good things they have received in their lives.

The ethnic background of our volunteers is quite diverse, and our volunteers represent countries from around the world. Our volunteers also come from a wide variety of religious and spiritual backgrounds. For example, we have volunteers who are Christians, Hindus, Buddhists, and Muslims. They are all good people who want to help others and are practicing the teachings of their religion and following the promptings of their heart.

Similarly, the teachings of all religions and the promptings of our heart are the core teachings of Sathya Sai Baba:

“Love all, serve all.” [2]

“Help ever, hurt never.” [3] 

“Follow your conscience.” [4]

These core teachings are simple, sacred, and very powerful when put into practice.

The joy of working with all the wonderful volunteers who serve at our free clinic is something I look forward to each and every week. We are all happy to see each other and work together, and happy for the chance to serve patients who come to our clinic. This creates a wonderful healing atmosphere at our clinic.         —Dr. Joseph Phaneuf

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