For those whose home is the open road and an 18-wheeler’s cramped cab, the familiar sight of the Sapp Bros. Truck Stops’ giant red-and- white coffeepot in the sky means relief.
At the Commerce City stop, truckers can find hot showers, almost- home-cooked meals, a health checkup and, if need be, a visit to Dr. Izzy, “the blind chiropractor.”
On the truck stop’s second floor, above the Apple Barrel restaurant, is the Commerce City Family Health Clinic.
Down the hall, just past the Caribbean-themed Hair Port Barbershop, is Dr. Izzy’s Chiro-Stop.
David Kleberger, a nurse practitioner, started the clinic five years ago, knowing his core business would be truck drivers needing federal Department of Transportation physicals.
In addition, he thought there would be the occasional employer- ordered random drug or alcohol test.
What Kleberger got was a practice full of repeat patients, whose diabetes, high blood pressure and other illnesses – primed by salty, greasy foods and long hours behind the wheel – are diagnosed by Kleberger and his five-person staff.
“There’s a lot of truckers who don’t have a primary-care doctor,” Kleberger said.
The clinic is an example of going outside the traditional system, said J.D. Kleinke, a health care economist based in Portland, Ore.
“There is often an adaptive genius to how enterprising local providers manage to find under-served patient markets,” Kleinke said. “The market will not fix much of what is wrong with the U.S. health care system, but this clinic is an example of how it can fix what is wrong with our truckers.
“This is consumer-driven health care in, if you’ll pardon the pun, overdrive.”
Erratic schedules often make it impossible for truckers to make appointments in their hometowns, Kleinke said.
Anyone can walk into the clinic and – for $45, cash or check only – get a full physical, and treatment for things as varied as colds and cuts that need stitches and sexually transmitted diseases.
Regulars get a $5 discount.
The Family Health Clinic also provides preventive care, such as shots to stave off flu and pneumonia, Kleberger said.
Often, the required physicals reveal truckers’ hidden health problems.
“We get three to five new hypertensive (patients) or diabetics a week,” Kleberger said.
Inez “Izzy” Brasher, who lost her sight to juvenile macular degeneration at age 9, helps truckers stretch their cramped limbs, improve their circulation and work out the kinks in their aching backs.
She set up her chiropractic shop down the hall from Kleberger 2 1/2 years ago and has developed her own loyal following, aided by the citizens-band radio she keeps by her desk.
“Some of my drivers call in and say, ‘I’m five states away; I’m coming,”‘ Brasher said. “They really make an effort to get here.”
The Family Health Clinic’s staff – three nurse practitioners and two medical assistants – is reaching out to the community’s working families, many of whom lack health insurance, Kleberger said.
Since the clinic doesn’t accept private health insurance, it doesn’t have to hire staff to process claims and can keep prices low, Kleberger said.
“Everybody wants to work with the insured and the wealthy because they know they’re going to get paid,” he said. “But I have different priorities. I want to make sure those that need good medical care get it.”
Staff writer Marsha Austin can be reached at 303-820-1242 or maustin@denverpost.com.
