St. Louis-based Legal Services of Eastern Missouri is partnering with community health clinics in the area to help patients whose health issues may require legal assistance, according to a KWMU report.
Lawyers rotate between two Family Care HealthCenters and two Affinia Healthcare clinics, all in St. Louis. As part of the program, physicians and health center personnel are taught how to screen patients for potential legal needs. The lawyers then hold "office hours" at the clinics to assist those patients in need of assistance.
Of the hundreds of people referred from conversations with physicians, lawyers with LSEM have primarily helped them with disputes with landlords, cleanliness issues that may impact a tenant's health, or challenges filing for Medicaid of social security benefits, according to the report.
The program is funded by a three-year, $666,000 grant from the Missouri Foundation of Health.
More than 120 legal aid agencies have medical-legal programs across the nation, according to the report.