MSU Care is a free and charitable clinic that serves an underserved, unisured population within the community.

Jaime Gnau, clinical dietician at MSU Care and also clinical instructor of MSU’s dietetics program, talks about her role at the clinic.

“A lot of my work focuses around diabetes, weight management and developing a healthy relationship with food,” Gnau said.

The clinic is a partnership with Mercy, with employees from both institutions working side by side.

Gnau shares about the challenges patients are facing and how she helps them.

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“Our patients have a lot of barriers. So as you can imagine, they’re fighting fires every day. They deal with challenges of just meeting their basic needs,” Gnau said.

Improving health care access

“As a dietician, it’s really about helping them set achievable goals,” she said. “When you’re not able to pay your electric bill, or you’re not even able to have a house to access, a stove to cook on, to be able to store refrigerated foods – we really are focusing in on what is within your control. Let’s see how we can develop some some small achievable goals that you feel confident you can reach.”

Changing services during COVID

Gnau served on a task force to strategize about the necessary adaptations for services during COVID. Instead of feeling defeated, she is excited to share about some of the new partnerships – primarily one for food boxes.

“If you don’t have a consistent food source while you’re on insulin, it can be very dangerous,” she said.

When she reached out to Ozarks Food Harvest and explained the needs and types of food that would be best, she was in awe.

“They just absolutely came through. We’ve served 30,427 pounds of food since the program began,” she said, and the partnership continues.

For more information, visit msucare.missouristate.edu.

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