Physician assistant Kerry McGuigan Gillette 鈥�05 serves on the front line of the coronavirus pandemic, running Mosaic Medical鈥檚 Mobile Community Clinic and treating the homeless and at-risk youth in Central Oregon. Initially, clinic leaders wanted to shut down the specially outfitted RV, fearing for the safety of the medical team. 鈥淲hile the rest of our community might have access to telemedicine appointments, the majority of my homeless patients do not,鈥� Kerry says. 鈥淚 was strongly opposed to pulling back completely, as it would effectively cut off my patients from access to primary care during a pandemic. That was unacceptable to me.鈥�
She crafted a compromise that allowed her to continue using the van. Patients now check in outside the van, communicating through a two-way baby monitor instead of waiting inside the cramped space. Kerry then calls them to a mobile phone outside, and the patient receives a telephone appointment. If she has to examine a patient, she wears full personal protective equipment and sees them outside the van. She only brings a patient inside if absolutely necessary.
Kerry hopes that through partnerships with other organizations, people experiencing homelessness will get enough food, water, fuel and supplies to shelter in place in their tents and campers, reducing their risk of contracting or spreading COVID-19. 鈥淪o far, our approach seems to be working well,鈥� she says. 鈥淔olks appreciate that we still come out to serve them so they don鈥檛 have to congregate, and I feel like we鈥檙e continuing our mission to get care to the most vulnerable.鈥�
Kerry grew up in Egypt with her parents, Dan McGuigan 鈥�77 and Kathy Perkins McGuigan 鈥�77, who taught at the American International School in Cairo for 18 years. At 蜜桃传媒, Kerry began a pre-vet track before following in her parents鈥� footsteps and studying education. 鈥淎t 蜜桃传媒, I was challenged and prepared academically,鈥� she says. 鈥淲hat I appreciate more now is the foundation of having a softness of heart, a curiosity and grace for the other, especially within Christendom. It鈥檚 allowed me to be unafraid of following Jesus into really hard places without feeling the need for answers all the time.鈥�
After graduating, she realized she wanted to move back overseas and taught third grade in Cairo for three years. She then decided to pursue a career in health care to help the most vulnerable patients, and she enrolled at the University of Utah School of Medicine. Later, while her husband, Marcus 鈥�05, earned an MBA and a master鈥檚 degree in international development at American University in Washington, D.C., she worked in the clinic at a city jail.
鈥淚 never set out to work in a jail,鈥� she says. 鈥淚 really wrestled with God about it.鈥� She convinced herself she could stick it out for six months, which turned into nearly four years. The experience changed her profoundly.
She heard stories from the predominantly African American inmates about the broken justice system and the communities that turned their backs on people trying to rebuild their lives after incarceration鈥攖heir trauma, grief and poverty. 鈥淭here is significant generational poverty on a foundation of racial injustice,鈥� she says. 鈥淚 was blessed to examine many painful things in myself: prejudice, power and privilege. I had to burn every last trace of white-savior complex in the crucible to avoid inflicting damage and more pain.鈥�
She also developed a love for caring for women in the sex industry, the transgender community and those with HIV. 鈥淗onestly, I think that the more marginalized populations I work with, the more I鈥檓 convinced that鈥檚 where Jesus is,鈥� she says. 鈥淧eople who love Jesus need to be in all settings, but especially with folks we churchy people are the least comfortable with, and to whom we鈥檝e shown the least grace over the years.
鈥淎dvocating for equal if not superior treatment for my homeless and incarcerated patients and doing outreach to dancers in the strip clubs feels scandalously redemptive. Nothing is as powerful as affirming the Imago Dei in someone who has been devalued and dehumanized their entire life.鈥�
Looking to the future, Kerry has dreams of expanding the medical outreach from Bend, Oregon, toward Idaho with multiple vans. Eventually, when her children are old enough to appreciate it, she would like to travel overseas to serve again in the developing world.