Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Courtesy photo The Melrose Health Clinic’s roof was torn off and its offices flooded on Aug. 15. Community members helped remove equipment and supplies. The clinic is being operated out of temporary offices at Melrose City Hall and the Church of Christ fellowship hall.
link Courtesy photo
The Melrose Health Clinic’s roof was torn off and its offices flooded on Aug. 15. Community members helped remove equipment and supplies. The clinic is being operated out of temporary offices at Melrose City Hall and the Church of Christ fellowship hall.
Staff writer
When the roof of the Melrose Health Clinic was blown away by a storm on Aug. 15, the clinic started to flood, leaving equipment in danger of damage.
Joy Garner, the clinic’s administrator, who lives in Clovis, got a call about the damage and rushed to Melrose. When she got there, the community of Melrose came together and started to evacuate the building.
They came with trucks and trailers to relocate equipment and supplies in the clinic to the local fire department. Residents even brought vacuum cleaners to suck up the water.
Garner said Curry County Manager Lance Pyle sent help to the clinic and had a contractor come out to minimize the water damage.
“The county came out with a crew and worked through the night,” Garner said.
Even Roosevelt County General Hospital Chief Executive Officer Larry Leaming came out to Melrose, since the clinic is under RGH.
“We are so thankful to the wonderful people of Melrose and Curry County. Everyone turned out with trucks, trailers, boxes, and whatever we needed to move and secure the contents of the clinic. The sense of community pride is outstanding and it’s a real honor to be able to help serve healthcare needs of these wonderful people,” Leaming said.
Garner said clinic officials are waiting for roofing for the building and it may take a couple of weeks for the clinic to reopen. But that is not stopping Dr. Joyce Roberts from seeing patients.
Roberts said after the clinic was evacuated, her staff of three decided they could still serve the community that helped them.
“We needed to have a presence here. Many of our patients can’t travel to Portales,” Roberts said.
So Roberts has been making house calls to her patients and has set up temporary clinics for them at Melrose City Hall and at the fellowship hall at the Melrose Church of Christ.
Roberts said the clinic also has patients from Elida, House, Floyd, Forrest and other small communities around the area.
The temporary clinics are open in the morning from 8 a.m. to noon.
“I believe in taking medicine to the local community,” Roberts said.
