Rachel Schneider, UT:10 News Reporter
​February 14, 2019

HOLLAND, Ohio – A group of University of Toledo medical students are working alongside local doctors to provide free healthcare for the uninsured. 
Halim Clinic is a new free clinic that accepts people who do not have insurance or who have limited coverage which does not cover services requested. 
The clinic started as an initiative by a couple of Muslim doctors who wanted to give back to the community, said Dr. Hatem Elhady, a volunteer physician at Halim. Six percent of local adult residents are without healthcare coverage, according to the Lucas County Community Health Assessment’s 2016-2017 data.
Students from UT’s College of Medicine and Life Sciences were the driving force in organizing and structuring the clinic into a reality, Elhady said. 
Individuals fulfill roles in management, reception, and administration including tasks such as creating electronic medical records, making appointments, stocking supplies, and interacting with patients. 
They first try to determine what the patient came in for and present it to the physician who then consults with them and determine how to help the patient, Elhady said. 
For first-year medical student Mazzin Elsamaloty, the experience allows him to supplement what he is learning in the classroom with the real world. 
“You can try and work on your communication skills,” he said. “How to ask questions, how to approach certain situations, and how to even do a physical exam.”
Volunteers originally worked out of Toledo Masjid Al-Islam, a mosque in downtown Toledo, until Dr. Mahmood Moosa, an endocrinologist, offered them space in his Holland clinic, Elsamaloty said. 
Halim Clinic is located on Spring Valley Drive and is open Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. 
Services include wellness checkups and physical examinations for patients with scheduled appointments and walk-ins. 
Targeted patients are people who work one or two part-time jobs that do not offer insurance or benefits, Elsamaloty said. 
“The ability for us to save patients, you know, hundreds if not thousands of dollars…is rewarding.” 
Without having insurance or having to pay high deductibles and copayments, people tend not to visit doctors which can worsen complications, Elhady said. 
“With this clinic, we can solve at least part of the problem,” he said. “People can at least come for an initial visit to know if they have to follow up for something serious or is it something simple they can take simple medication and go back home.” 
Though the clinic cannot prescribe prescriptions yet and only provides primary care and consultations, it is working with other specialists in the area who the clinic has collaborated with to take referred patients at little to no cost, Elhady said. 
Future goals include wanting to add dental and vision services, an in-house pharmacy, and more business hours, Elsamaloty said. 
“It’s all about, you know, giving back and making sure that we protect those who are most vulnerable in our community and to make sure they are taken care of.” To schedule an appointment, call 567-318-4069 or visit Halimclinic.org for more information.

TOLEDO, Ohio - UT students and faculty partnered with the Toledo community on Feb. 1 and 2 to help feed the world’s starving children. 
Over one thousand volunteers filled the gym at the Health Education Center on Main Campus to pack meals for third-world countries. 
Professor Clint Longenecker, distinguished professor and director of the Center of Leadership and Organizational Excellence in the College of Business and Innovation said that volunteers had to be placed on a waiting list because so many signed up. 
Ninety students from the Klar Leadership Academy at the College of Business and Innovation raised $45 thousand to purchase food from the, “Feed My Starving Children” program for the two-day mobile pack. 
The academy was founded in 2015 by Steven Klar, 1971 UT business alumnus and New York City real estate developer. 
“We did this on behalf of the “Feed my Starving Children” organization, and they distribute the food from these mobile pack events to, uh, whatever country that needs them,” said Jason Gonring, fourth year Electrical Engineering student. 
Packing shifts were two hours long, from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Friday and 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. and 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday. 
The meals contained a nutritious rice and vegetable blend, prepared specifically for undernourished children. 
This is the third year in a row that the Klar Leadership Academy organized the mobile pack. In 2017, volunteers packed 140 thousand meals, in 2018 they packed 173 thousand, and this year, they packed over 202 thousand meals. 
Longenecker said that the academy’s goals are just to improve every year by recruiting more volunteers and packing more meals.

TOLEDO, Ohio - Several weeks ago, it was brought to UT:10 News' attention that there have been issues with disabled students getting around campus effectively. 
Slippery walkways have been posing an issue around campus for those with disabilities, leaving many to wonder if the grounds crew is able to do its job effectively. 
Senior Associate Vice President for Facilities and Construction Jason Toth says he believes this is just an anomaly that occurred because of the weather. 
When asked if he believed his department was understaffed, Toth said no. But UT Advisor Lisa Bollman, who has mobility issues, says they are. 
Her office at Sullivan Hall is an especially slippery area, because it is not as well traveled as other areas of the University. 
While Toth says he is satisfied with his team's efficiency, he also says that the extreme weather, such as the frigid temperatures we experienced recently, have made it difficult for the treatment placed on the walkways to melt the ice. 
“Given the extreme cold that we had, it rendered that brine solution to be effective. When you get around minus ten- or ten degrees, you no longer have the effective nature of the rock salt to get rid of the snow that occurs on our sidewalks, or the ice that occurs on our sidewalks.” 
Student Disability Services says there have been no reports of incidents, when it comes to walkways being inaccessible due to ice. 
Bollman and Toth both encourage students to be cautious on the ice and walk slowly. 
If you do see a disabled student struggling to get through an icy spot - do not be afraid to ask them if they need help. 
Students that would like to report an untreated walkway may call 419-530-1000 for Main Campus - and 419-383-5353 for the Health Science Campus.