We Care
Date: February 28, 2005

Oscar and Millie Carpenter were regulars at the Floyd Family Medicine pharmacy. In their late 70s, the couple depended on Floyd’s We Care program for the medicines they needed.

Floyd’s We Care Program provides free primary care physician services, pharmacy services and ancillary services like radiology and laboratory to low-income individuals with chronic health problems.

Whenever the pair needed their prescriptions refilled, Oscar had to load Millie, her wheelchair and his oxygen tank into their old van and drive to the Family Practice Center. Then, because she was too sick to be left alone, he had to unload Millie and their equipment to get their drugs, only to repeat the process again for the trip home.

Tina Barrickman, pharmacy reimbursement analyst, watched Oscar and Millie struggle to maintain their independence. The Carpenters, barely surviving on their meager incomes, moved in with Millie’s daughter, but it was a troubled family. Tina had concerns. Would they be treated well? Would they get the food they needed?

It wasn’t on her way. It wasn’t in her job description, and it wasn’t in her budget, but concern for the Carpenters overrode any barriers. Tina, a married mother of three teenaged daughters, took the couple under her already fully extended wing, offering to deliver the Carpenters’ medicines and diabetes supplies to their home. That way, she could regularly check on the couple.

When she discovered the Carpenters needed additional assistance with meals and personal care, Tina contacted Meals on Wheels for them and found a nurse who could provide in-home assistance. When she realized the Carpenters weren’t always following up with their personal physicians, Tina began scheduling doctor appointments for them.

Sometimes, Oscar would conveniently “forget” to call in all of their refills at once, so Tina would have to visit them more often. And when she did visit, she brought more than just medicine. She carried them fresh tomatoes from her garden and purchased gifts for them at Christmas. In between those visits, Tina called often to check on them.

She adopted the Carpenters, and they adopted her.

For two years, she delivered medicine and compassion to the Carpenters, and when Millie’s health began to decline further, Tina stepped up her efforts to assist them.

She visited Millie in the hospital and made sure her nurses were aware that Oscar, who refused to leave Millie’s side, would need some assistance. When it became apparent that death was imminent, Tina stood by Oscar as he said his final goodbyes to the love of his life, just one day before Valentine’s Day.

Since Millie’s passing, Tina has continued to support Oscar, working with his physician to find a home for Oscar.

To someone else, Oscar and Millie might have been just two more people in a long line of indigents, but not to Tina. She was a friend to two very lonely people, demonstrating to them that at Floyd, we care.

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