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If you search Google for Moab, Utah, you’ll see the breathtaking natural stone arches and other geological wonders that nearby Arches National Park is famous for. Its social media–worthy beauty and recreational offerings have spawned a sizeable tourism industry and vacation home market. Annually, 1.5 million visitors pass through Moab. One-third of residential properties there are second homes; and the median listing price tops $700,000.
But there’s another picture you aren’t likely to see. The median annual income in Moab is a little more than $52,000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Many residents live below the poverty line, making do with seasonal work and low-wage tourism jobs. It’s common for residents to be uninsured or underinsured because of high deductibles, which puts the services of the regional hospital out of reach.
“There’s an army of people making [the tourism industry] run, and usually those are folks barely able to make ends meet much less afford health care,” says Dr. Sean Buck, a physician who volunteers in Moab.
On top of that, “Moab is rural in a way that’s hard to understand,” he says. “The West is so spread out. You’re not 30 miles from another town; you’re two hours from Grand Junction, Colo., for a Level II trauma center. Specialty care is even further away. It’s very isolating.”
REALTOR® Danette Johnson has helped change that.
Grassroots Development
After living in Canada and Germany, where universal health care is the norm, and as a newly single mom, Johnson took a deeply personal interest in medical access, wondering how she’d take care of herself and her daughter if either of them were in an accident or fell ill. She readily joined conversations in the community about ways to bring free health care to Moab and began to organize. The effort was as grassroots as it gets—early funding came from a yard sale and volunteer medical professionals through word of mouth—but it worked. In 2008, the Moab Free Health Clinic opened its doors.
At first, it operated for a few hours a day with a handful of volunteers in a small rental space. “We were making things up on the fly,” recalls Johnson, who is now the clinic’s board president. She did everything from working the front desk to raising money—all while building her real estate career; she became a REALTOR® in 2006. “Danette is a go-getter,” says Angela Settle, the clinic’s dental hygienist, whom Johnson originally tapped to write grants when Settle first moved to town. “She’s good at seeing people’s strengths and pulling them in.”
Johnson was instrumental, Executive Director Kate Jagla confirms, in securing two workers from AmeriCorps VISTA, a government program that subsidizes talent for nonprofits that can’t afford staff. One of them, Sean Buck, who was not yet a doctor, handled the paperwork necessary to arrange free medical malpractice insurance under the Federal Tort Claims Act. “This was a huge step. It enabled more medical volunteers to work with us,” Johnson says.
Because there are rules associated with government programs like the FTCA, “we realized we needed to be more buttoned up since we’d been flying by the seat of our pants,” Johnson says. “So the other AmeriCorps VISTA worker helped get our paperwork, like patient forms, liability waivers and disclaimers, in place.”
Other milestones followed. Johnson and the team made sure out-of-state medical volunteers—many from Colorado, whose border is closer than some cities in Utah—could legally practice there. And they developed relationships with hotels so out-of-town volunteers had a free place to stay.
Building Stability Through Real Estate
Johnson’s real estate expertise proved vital as the clinic expanded. “She not only handled several transactions over the years but also acquired major individual donors to support the purchase of properties,” Jagla says.
“She takes calculated risks,” Settle says of the smart investments Johnson has made on behalf of the clinic. “If you have the opportunity on a property, you have to crunch the numbers and, if there’s a possibility, you go for it.”
“Danette is a rock star. It’s rare to find someone who’s so humble and doesn’t want attention. But everyone knows who’s making it happen behind the scenes.”–Angela Settle, dental hygienist, Moab Free Health Clinic
Today, the nonprofit owns a campus of five parcels with three buildings. One houses the clinic; the others are tenant-occupied. One of those is the Moab Community Resource Center, an offshoot of the clinic made up of about 20 organizations that provide non-medical services such as a teen library and an adult education center. Johnson’s role as board president includes the Community Resource Center as well.
Johnson envisions one day adding a daycare center and affordable housing to the property and is exploring grants to make that a reality.
A Success Story
While there are always challenges, namely shortages of “money and doctors,” Johnson says, the clinic’s growth speaks for itself. Since its humble beginnings, it has served 6,500 patients in a county of about 10,000; the annual appointment volume has increased from a few hundred to 3,000; and its yearly budget has grown from $50,000 to nearly $1.3 million.
With 12 paid positions and a stable of about 25 volunteers, including 15 medical pros, the clinic has been able to elevate the level of care it provides, offering physical exams, ongoing treatment for chronic conditions, testing for sexually transmitted diseases, mental health services, vision care, dentistry and in-house lab testing. It also provides patient navigation services: Staff can help people get on the Affordable Care Act, find out if they qualify for Medicaid or tap into other social services.
“Danette is a force of nature,” says Buck, who sits on the board and travels more than five hours from Denver on days he volunteers. “The clinic would not exist at all without her drive,” though Johnson is quick to make sure credit goes to the many people who have played a role.
Why does she do it? Because of “hard-working people” like Alba, who cleaned hotel rooms in Moab for many years. Alba, who struggled with dangerous blood sugar levels, heard about the clinic through Facebook. Now she has access to treatment, checkups and women’s health services, including mammograms. She regularly brings the staff and volunteers tamales in appreciation.
“It’s super rewarding to be in the grocery store and see people who were seriously ill with diabetes and should have died, now on insulin, taking classes on healthy living and thriving,” Johnson says. “Real estate has been good to me, so I can give back.”
Danette Johnson is a REALTOR® with Moab Realty in Moab, Utah. Since its inception, the Moab Free Health Clinic has served 6,500 patients in a county of nearly 10,000.
