Katie Rosauer
Secretary & Director of Public Relations
Bachelor of Science, Exercise Physiology
Pre-PA
Hello, my name is Katie Rosauer and I am the Secretary & Director of Public Relations for Medspire Health. My passion for medicine and patient care transpired at a very young age; always fascinated with the medical field and was a Junior volunteer at Enloe Medical Center at 16 years old. My experiences at Enloe introduced me to an endless amount of learning and eye-opening experiences only propelling me to want to learn more.
I worked at Enloe Medical Center for three years and ventured onto patient care at Feather River Hospital as a Medical Scribe in the Emergency Room. My time at FRH and Emergency Room showed me how to react and provide patient centered care with the adrenaline and stress surrounding; I learned more than imaginable in those 7 months. Though my time was cut short at FRH, I continued to do what I knew how to do: care for others.
I stepped foot into East Ave Church and pop-up shelter on Saturday November 10th. Helping and caring for my community had just begun and I was ready to take it on. As I walked into East Ave Church, I was led to the back of the church where a gymnasium sat with over 200 evacuees lined up sleeping on cots and air mattresses. Our evacuees were accompanied by their dogs, cats, and the few belongings they were able to take with them as they were running for their lives. The majority of evacuees grabbed their living essentials but there was no time to grab medications, medical supplies, or medical equipment. This is where my role began; I was a “nurse”, a scribe, a counselor, an open ear, a launder, a receptionist, an emergency disaster coordinator, a medical supply liaison, and an individual who had the opportunity to cross-check our shelter census with the missing persons list and identify 12 missing evacuees from the Paradise, Magalia, and Concow areas that resided at our shelter and clinic. Truthfully, my days began and ended at East Ave Church for the following 3 weeks and I would not change a thing.
With many working hands and hearts, we medically assessed every evacuee including blood pressure readings, lung & heart sounds, blood glucose, and countless other medical and therapeutic needs. Also, I worked with individuals to ensure each evacuee’s medication prescriptions were in process at the local pharmacies. A serious shout out to the local pharmacies for spending countless hours in ensuring that our evacuees were provided with the medications they needed following the Camp Fire.
For six weeks following the Camp Fire, we as a pop-up medical clinic and evacuee shelter, worked closely with Direct Relief who supplied us with the most generous amount of personal hygiene kits, medications, medical supplies, and medical equipment. We created a patient information database, a secure volunteer sign-up platform which ensured each volunteer was licensed to volunteer in the realm of their practice.
As the days went on and more homes were declared destroyed, our evacuees still needed medical, therapeutic, and every-day needs. These needs were not resolved 6 weeks following the devastation of the Camp Fire. We knew we the closing of the shelter and clinic was not the end of helping the people around us who truly became family. So, after many conversations and brainstorming, a group of individuals from the Shelter and Clinic, we set foot to establish a free medical care non-profit. We have established just that- a mobile medical clinic that has now provided free medical care to over 300 patients via in-person Free Clinic Days and also via telehealth.
Medspire Health was established by 8 individuals who cared for the people residing at East Ave Church Shelter and Clinic. We hope to alleviate some of the influx of non-emergent patients from the local emergency rooms and provide one-on-one care for the evacuees of the Camp Fire 2018 with Medspire Health. We provide education, medical care, social work, case management, and a reliable source of alliance with our community. We achieve these goals by focusing and inspiring growth following the most devastating and disastrous wildfire in California’s history. We plan to instill hope in rebuilding the devastated parts of Butte County and stand side-by-side to get our people home again.
If I have learned anything through my experience at Feather River Hospital and the Camp Fire; is PEOPLE and what people can do is most important.”
Months later, I am proud to be a founder of Medspire Health, to be working with incredible fellow volunteers, and to provide free medical care to our community despite social status, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, living situation, age, insurance status, or any other defining factor that may make our community members feel inferior. Words cannot express my excitement and goals for the future of Medspire Health.