HONORING OUR DONORS
R I C K
K E A R N E Y
CESC Health Services Rick is an entrepreneur and philanthropist who has been fighting poverty for decades. He provided start-up funding for The Kearney Center, Tallahassee’s homeless shelter, and for The Dwellings and Westgate transitional housing programs. His generosity, in partnership with Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare (TMH) Foundation, brings comprehensive medical care to people who are homeless.
How does CESC Health Services work? Many homeless shelter clients need long-term healthcare but don’t access it for a variety of reasons. We decided to bring the doctors to them. Clients receive a health assessment from a nurse practitioner who works in collaboration with a doctor via TMH’s telemedicine program. We cover primary care, lab work, prescriptions and care by specialists. We also work with our partners to address mental health and substance abuse. Everything is handled promptly and efficiently under the TMH umbrella.
What results have you seen since the program started in January 2019?
blood pressure is off the charts. They will wait until their condition is unbearable before they seek treatment, usually at the emergency room. We will be able to show through data how this program improves the health of our clients and how it saves money by minimizing use of the emergency room.
What makes this gift meaningful to you? We all know someone who falls into the category of underserved medical patient. They will have access to much better and more immediate healthcare as a result of this program. We can be the birthplace of a model that can be replicated nationwide.
What motivates your philanthropy? There are short-term feelings of accomplishment that come in business when you beat the competition or land a big real estate deal. Those are great, but they’re like sugar. The high comes, and it goes really fast. When you support the community, you see the smiles and hear the thankyous from people in the trenches. That sense of pride and accomplishment lasts much longer.
People often come to the homeless shelter with horrible, chronic conditions. They have untreated wounds, or their
“ I f I can leave a legacy that exceeds my lifetime, then I will feel like I’ve accomplished something. “
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May–June 2019
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