Free Clinic in Loveland

Saint Matthews Medical Clinic
Dr. Scott Sundheim
Immanuel Lutheran School and Church
4650 Sunview Drive
970-624-3425 (appointments taken for Thursdays 6-9pm))
Located in north Loveland, East of H287

Dr. Sundheim receives Community Health Award

by McKee Medical Center on Thursday, March 10, 2011 at 2:09pm

LOVELAND (March 10, 2011) – Emergency physician Scott Sundheim, MD, received the McKee Community Health Award on Thursday from the McKee Medical Center Foundation for his work to open a free health clinic in Loveland.

He accepted the award during the annual McKee Thanks luncheon at McKee Medical Center.

The McKee Community Health Award presented by the McKee Medical Center Foundation honors an individual who has contributed to the overall health and wellness of the Loveland community either through direct care or volunteer service in the Loveland health care field.

Dr. Sundheim started St. Matthew’s Medical Clinic, a nonprofit clinic that provides free primary medical care to Loveland residents in need. The clinic opened in the summer of 2010 at Immanuel Lutheran Church and School at 2650 Sunview Drive in north Loveland.

His experiences in the emergency room with patients who do not have reasonable opportunities for other medical care coupled with his strong spiritual encouragement from Immanuel Lutheran Church in Loveland led to the founding of St. Matthew’s Medical Clinic, Dr. Sundheim said. Since opening, the clinic has seen about 80 patients for a range of conditions. Patients are seen by appointment only, and the clinic is open Thursday nights based on need and availability of volunteers. Dr. Sundheim said October was the busiest month with the clinic open every Thursday that month.

The clinic operates with the help of volunteer nurses, physicians, physician assistants and receptionists as well as donations from Banner Health and private individuals. Immanuel Lutheran Church has leased operating and storage space to the clinic for $1 per year. He added that a federal program that provides liability insurance for physicians who volunteer in free clinics will allow more providers to help in the clinic in the coming months.

Dr. Sundheim is a native of Illinois and graduated from the University of Illinois College of Medicine in 2001. He was introduced to the idea of physicians volunteering at free clinics in Peoria, Ill., when he took a shift at the Heartland Clinic.

He trained in emergency medicine in Cleveland at Metro Health Medical Center and the Cleveland Clinic. Sundheim moved to Colorado with his wife, Dr. Rachel Konda-Sundheim, to raise their three children closer to family. Rachel is a pediatrician at the Loveland Youth Clinic.

Dr. Sundheim works full time in the McKee Emergency Department and served as the hospital’s chairman of emergency medicine in 2008-09. He also works and teaches at the Denver Health Medical Center – an inner city hospital and trauma center.

About the McKee Medical Center Foundation: The mission of the foundation is to raise funds and friends to benefit the health and wellness of the Loveland community.