Dr. Charles and Michele Mackett. PHOTO BY MARY SCHENKEL

Dressed in festive Mardi Gras attire, the warm-hearted We Care doctors, volunteers and supporters kicked off their annual Mardi Gras fundraiser with a sunset cocktail hour by a roaring fire pit at the new pastoral Celebration Grove venue. But even the dazzling costumes couldn’t outshine the breathtaking crimson sunset.

Proceeds from the event will help enable the We Care Foundation to continue providing free specialty medical care to the most vulnerable members of our community.

The evening included a sit-down dinner and bidding on a selection of coveted auction items and ended with lively dancing and karaoke to the sounds of Howl at the Moon dueling pianos.

The We Care program, founded in 1991 by the late Dr. Dennis Saver, provides free, non-emergency medical services to low-income, uninsured Indian River County residents ages 18 and older, who would otherwise be unable to afford specialty health care.

Vital services offered by volunteer physicians are valued at close to $1 million annually. Additionally, items such as CPAP machines, initial medications, medical supplies and cataract lenses are also paid for by the program.

We Care is proud of the wide range of primary care physicians and specialists who volunteer their services, including specialty services such as cardiology, dermatology, gastroenterology, acupuncture, neurology, ENT, podiatry and ophthalmology.

“Last year we took care of over 800 patients with the help of 39 volunteer physicians,” said board member Dr. Charles Mackett.

“I see patients two days a week at Treasure Coast Community Health as a primary care physician and it’s increasingly difficult to get our less fortunate patients to see specialists. That is our biggest challenge. We started as a small operation in 1991 and have grown into a larger operation that can raise lots of money to spend on those less fortunate,” Mackett added.

“We continue to evolve and adapt, and our next phase will make it even better. We are aligning ourselves with Treasure Coast Community Health (TCCH), an organization that shares the same mission and values and cares for the same kind of patients,” said Mackett, before introducing Vicki Soulé, TCCH CEO.

Soulé offered accolades about the We Care program and expressed her sincere appreciation of the collaboration amongst the two nonprofit organizations.

“At TCCH we keep growing, not for any other reason except the need to keep growing. Last year we saw 33,000 individuals. We are helping a lot of people, and they aren’t all indigents,” said Soulé, noting that people come through the doors of TCCH for a hundred different reasons.

“We take all insurances. We take no insurance. We have a sliding scale fee and absorb the rest.

But this past year the need has been greater and the insurance reimbursements are going down, not up,” she said. She added that the limited federal funding they receive is the same amount, regardless of the number of patients they see.

“So, we need to be creative. I’m honored that the board of We Care came to us to work collaboratively and strengthen our relationships because we can do more by working together.”

The goal of both We Care and Treasure Coast Community Health is to help those less fortunate. Together they are making health care available to all Indian River County residents regardless of income.

For more information, visit wecareofirc.org or tcchinc.org.