By JAMES BELL
Hays Post
For those with mobility issues, finding the equipment to move freely can be a difficult — and expensive — proposition.
Recognizing that need, Wichita-based CPRF operates mobile wheelchair clinics in western Kansas, providing a myriad of services that help individuals with mobility systems.
“When you think about it, just getting anywhere, going anywhere, everything takes so much more preparation and those of us that don’t deal with disabilities, we don’t really think about it,” said Jennifer Knight, CPRF vice president of development. “We take it for granted.”
Since 1972, CPRF has worked to assist those that need local repair of wheelchairs and other mobility systems and, through Wheelchair and Posture Seating Clinics, it is able to help those in need across western Kansas.
“That’s what we do. We keep these parts, and we refurbish wheelchairs that need to be modified or fixed in some way,” Knight said.
The chairs are not just standard wheelchairs — they are specially designed to match the need of the individual and can cost as much as a car.
“Basically, the reason we are in existence is to provide people with the services, programs and equipment to be as independent as possible,” Knight said. “People with disabilities, they want independence, just like any of us do.”
Those disabilities can come from a host of medical issues, she said, like cerebral palsy, spina bifida, multiple sclerosis and non-disease causes as well, such as traumatic head injuries.
“It runs the gambit,” Knight said.
Having the local clinics helps clients and caregivers get access to those services that otherwise might be prohibitively distant.
“Some of them can’t get their kid to get the service, because they have to be at work or they are going to lose their job,” Knight said. “It’s different because it takes so much longer, there is so much more that goes into it, and these (appointments) take a long time.”
She said a long road trip in itself can be a challenge, with special vehicles sometimes needed just to make the trip.
Lorna Ford and her daughter Emma made the trip from Jetmore to visit the clinic in Hays on Thursday to receive service on Emma’s chair after a misalignment was causing leg pain.
“We really appreciate the service,” Lorna said.
They are from Jetmore, so making the drive to Wichita for service would take a full day.
“There is nothing out here," Lorna said. “There are no clinics. There is no wheelchair seating. So when we do the outreach clinics that’s even nicer so we don’t have to drive three hours one way to Wichita.”
She said without the CPRF they would likely be forced to drive to Denver, Topeka or Kansas City.
David Kemp, CPRF vice president of technical services runs the mobile clinics in four locations across western Kansas and worked to make adjustments to the chair.
During the visit, he did more than just service the chair, but also worked to secure help on an in-home lift system.
“They do more than wheelchairs,” Lorna said. “I was talking to him about our lift, so if there are other services that we need, if they can’t do it, they have got connections – who maybe even have connections – and can put us in touch with people that can help us out with what we need.”
During this visit, the complexity of the wheelchair became clear as Emma was experiencing bruising on a leg from an ill-fitting seat.
“It looks pretty simple,” Kemp said, “but it’s not a simple chair.”
“Her wheelchair is very custom to support her so that she can use her arms, so that she can set up and do things,” Lorna said.
Other issues such as pressure sores can also arise from a chair in need of service.
“If her wheelchair doesn’t sit her right, then she doesn’t sit up straight,” Lorna said. “If her wheelchair doesn’t sit her right, then she turns her hips and her hips come out of socket, then we have to look at hip surgery.”
“We want it to be functional,” Kemp said. For Emma, that means a chair that can move with only one arm and comfortable for extended seating.
“It’s not like she could set in a (normal) chair or even a chair with straps,” he said. “Very commonly, people think anybody could sit here and I’ll put straps on them. That doesn’t work for her.”
Kemp said, as an occupational therapist, he can help design and recommended mobility systems.
“The best system is the one that is the least restrictive, but provides what it needs to provide,” he said.
Even with a warehouse full of spare parts, CPRF requires significant resources to provide services.
“With the equipment side of it, we are willing to be the first funds in,” Knight said.
Even with insurance, Kemp said some equipment needed on a daily basis is sometimes not covered and is prohibitively expensive.
Kemp said their financial services help provided equipment for children and adults and can alleviate the strain from trying to secure funds to purchase equipment for those in need.
“It can be a lot of different stuff,” Kemp said. “It can be lifts for a van, it can be all kinds of different things.”
With such expensive equipment keeping the program running requires funding from a variety of sources.
And now a recent grant from the Dane G. Hansen Foundation helped kick off the CPRF’s endowed fund, with a goal of funding mobility equipment.
The $100,000 donation leads off the CPRF Community Mobility Fund with a goal of raising $725,000, which will help fund services in Ellis, Russell, Cloud and Saline counties.
The CPRF board of directors have also pledged a 20 percent donation match.
“CPRF is truly blessed to have the generous support of the Dane G. Hansen Foundation to assist in establishing this endowed fund,” said Patrick Jonas, CPRF president and CEO in a recent press release. “Those we serve in northwest and north-central Kansas will undoubtedly benefit from this initiative, and we hope to soon reach our fundraising goal to allow for the ongoing support of these vital services for generations to come.”