How a Minneapolis clinic helped bring healthcare to patients during Operation Metro Surge

Operation Metro Surge took a toll on schools, businesses, restaurants and medical care. 

Inspire Change Clinic in south Minneapolis responded by changing how it delivered care. Instead of waiting for patients to come to the clinic, medical professionals went straight to their door. 

More than 100 volunteer doctors, nurses and mental health professionals mobilized and, over four months, made more than 800 patient connections. Nearly 200 involved home and telehealth visits. 

There was no playbook; the goal was to keep patients connected to care and save lives. 

"Communities were scared and we needed to do something," said Munira Maalimisaq, nurse practitioner and founder of Inspire Change Clinic.

Volunteers drew blood in patients' homes and rushed samples back to the lab. They delivered medications, conducted telehealth visits and staffed a rapid response line monitored by medical professionals. 

Those home visits also revealed serious consequences of delayed care. 

Maalimisaq met patients struggling with malnutrition, a mother experiencing postpartum psychosis who was too afraid to seek help and families dealing with pregnancy loss.

"We wanted to bring the care to you and listen when you say that you need care, you just can't come in," Maalimisaq said. 

During one visit, she said they connected with a grandmother with a severe wound that required treatment because her high blood sugar was preventing that wound from healing.

Dr. Jennifer Needle-Suarez worked alongside Maalimisaq caring for the youngest among us. She said the crisis also exposed a bigger problem in healthcare systems.

"I think healthcare organizations have been making more efforts toward investing in community needs and taking a more proactive approach in including community in programming, planning, the way things are done. I think there's a lot more work that can be done. I think as a structure, it is becoming less and less responsive to the needs of people," Needle-Suarez said.

Needle-Suarez and Maalimisaq believe communities should have a front-row seat and a role in determining how healthcare reaches them. 

The clinic's experience and findings have since been published in a medical journal and have drawn interest from healthcare professionals around the country. 

For Inspire Change Clinic, the lesson they want to get out there is that healthcare systems need to be prepared to meet patients where they are and not wait for a crisis to begin.