John Anderson, of Eudora, didn’t know where to turn.

It was late May 2005, and a doctor diagnosed him with diabetes after his blood pressure had reached dangerously high levels. The 300-plus pound man spent five days in the intensive-care unit suffering from diabetic ketoacidosis, a complication of diabetes caused by the build-up of byproducts of fat metabolism.

“It started running me up quite a bit because I actually did not have health insurance. The bills were piling up on me,” said Anderson, 25, who now is the general manager for the Golden Rule Motel in Lawrence.

Then a friend directed him to the charitable LEO Center and the Heartland Medical Clinic in the Riverfront Plaza.

He could pay $30 per visit to the nonprofit clinic. Dr. Dennis Sale, the clinic’s medical director and founder from its days at the Heartland Community Church in 1999, helped Anderson recover.

Sale determined that Anderson traumatically damaged his pancreas in a 2000 car accident.

Now, with medication, insulin and exercise, Anderson has lost 133 pounds.

“The reason that I am the way I am about diabetes is because it’s a disease,” Anderson said. “I have to live with it every day. So why not make it my passion?”

He wants to start a diabetes seminar and support group through the LEO Center.

Dr. Dennis Sale, left, checks the pupils of John Anderson at the Heartland Medical Clinic in the Riverfront Mall. Anderson, a diabetic who couldn't afford health insurance, lost 133 pounds in one year thanks to treatment that he received from the clinic. Sale checked up on Anderson in September 2006 at the charitable clinic, which offers low cost or free treatment and medication to the uninsured in Douglas County.

Physical-needs ministry

The LEO Center, named for former rural Douglas County resident Leo Beuerman, opened at the Riverfront Plaza in April 2004, the joint effort of several Lawrence churches: Heartland Community Church, Lawrence Wesleyan Church, Morning Star Church, Mustard Seed Christian Fellowship and Victory Bible Church.

About 70 to 80 patients use the medical clinic per month. Some are homeless, and many others are like Anderson when he was sick, working but unable to afford health insurance.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, more than 11,000 people in Douglas County are without health insurance, perhaps as many as 14,000.

“It’s what the need is in our society today,” said the Rev. Paul Gray, of Heartland Community Church and the center’s chief executive officer.

Health Care Access Clinic, 1920 Moodie Road, also serves those who struggle with health care costs. Gray says more could be done.

It takes about $350,000 per year to run the LEO Center, and it operates with many volunteers and 11 staff members.

In addition to the clinic, the center offers a food pantry, Bible counseling and an advocate pregnancy services center, which is meant to provide support to anyone facing unplanned pregnancy.

The LEO Center has also sent groups to help rebuild the Gulf Coast region after Hurricane Katrina.

Jacki Ziegler, of AmeriCorps, runs Meds by Mail at the center, a program that provides drugs donated from large drug companies to low-income individuals who qualify.

At the Heartland clinic, patients pay $45 for the initial visit and $30 for additional ones, but the clinic absorbs the cost for many who can’t afford those fees.

Wayne Simien, Miami Heat basketball player and former Kansas University star athlete, films a promotional piece at Free State Studios in Lawrence. Simien was at the studios Friday filming the spot for Heartland Medical Clinic at the LEO Center, a charitable clinic that offers low-cost or free treatment and medications.

Reaching out

Though the clinic is well-used, staff members said the center could reach more in the area. It’s on the lower level of the Riverfront Plaza, and the main parking lot to enter is at Seventh and New York streets.

“We want people to know we are here. We are hard to find, and we think there are people that could be excited about our mission if they knew about us,” said Jon Stewart, director of the LEO Center.

The center’s volunteers and staff will play host to a Family Fair from 8 a.m. to noon Sept. 30. There will be children’s games, food, entertainment and a silent auction fundraiser. Staff will give free back-to-school physicals, blood pressure and cholesterol checks and other medical screenings.

Members of the Kansas University basketball team are scheduled to make an appearance, and last week, former KU player Christian Moody signed on for a part-time public relations role for the next year.

Moody and another former Jayhawk, Wayne Simien of the Miami Heat, have filmed a commercial for the center.

Gray said his hope is that with more donations and interest, the center can expand its staff to help serve more people with health-related needs.

One happy patient, Anderson, acknowledges he owes a huge debt to the center and its staff. He now can afford health insurance through his hotel job, but he still uses the Heartland clinic at the LEO Center.

“They truly are doing this from their heart,” he said. “There’s light at the end of the tunnel. I just walked out of that.”