A couple of months ago, fourth-year medical student Jacqueline To was working on inpatient service at University Hospital when a 30-year-old woman came in complaining of terrible stomach pain. To discovered that the woman had been living for two years with an untreated bowel ailment called Crohn’s disease.

Crohn’s is an inflammatory bowel disease that affects the lining of the digestive tract and cannot be completely cured. It was imperative that the woman, who immigrated from Ethiopia four years ago where she was a nurse, receive treatment and medication.

As it turned out, To happens to be the student director of the DAWN Clinic, a nonprofit, student-run free health clinic for uninsured adults in north Aurora.

“(She) had been on medication for Crohn’s disease two years prior at a different hospital in Denver, but when her Medicaid was terminated they cut her off. She started developing abdominal pain and became septic. I referred her here, because I knew that I would be able to follow-up with her,” To said.

The DAWN — Dedicated to Aurora’s Wellness and Needs — Clinic was formed in March 2015 by a group of medical students and community members at the Dayton Street Opportunity Center, which was opened last year by Rep. Rhonda Fields. The clinic at 1445 Dayton St. is owned and operated by the Fields Foundation.

“We are very proud that we are owned and operated by the Aurora community and are responsive first and foremost to the residents we serve,” said Joseph Johnson, medical director of the clinic. “We work as partners with the Anschutz Campus; they provide us a lot of funding, University Hospital provides our labs and imaging, the CU School of Medicine and all schools on that campus collectively helps with our supplies and money.”

The clinic is run by inter-disciplinary students from the CU Anschutz Medical Campus from 6 p.m. to about 10 p.m. every Tuesday. It’s also open on Wednesdays for physical therapy appointments. On Tuesdays, there are typically about 30 students on hand, treating and planning primary care for mostly homeless and refugee populations in Aurora.

“We usually see 16 to 22 patients per night, and we’ve taken up to 10 walk-in patients a night,” Johnson said. “We’re not an urgent care clinic, we’re not an ER. We see patients very regularly to provide primary care to manage diabetes and hypertension … We’re trying to mitigate visits to ER, which is costly for uninsured people.”

Medical, dental, nursing, pharmacy, behavioral health and other students from every year at the Anschutz Medical Campus volunteer at the clinic along with about 10 licensed medical professionals who oversee the intake, diagnosis, treatment, counseling and post-care that their students provide to the patients at the clinic.

“The initial visit is done by a team of inter-professional students,” said Erin McGonagle, a second-year medical student and part of the emerging pediatric care workgroup for the DAWN Clinic.“The patients come in and go to triage where their vitals and blood pressure are recorded and then they see the teams of students. After the initial history-taking portion of the visit, students present to (licensed mentors), then they discuss a plan to move forward.”

Students gather after each visit for care coordination where they discuss the needs of the patients they treated — anything from scheduling a follow-up visit, to connecting them with other programs operated by the Fields Foundation. Some of those possibilities include employment assistance, food services and social or educational needs.

“It has to be that way,” Johnson said. “Giving someone who lives in a truck insulin to control their diabetes is asinine. That person can’t keep it refrigerated, they’re not going to be able to keep a schedule. If you can’t intervene on the social milieu, you’re not going to get adherence and results.”

Johnson said the long-term vision for the clinic initiative is even bigger than medical and social care.

“We’d love to see a campus,” he said. “Essentially, the vision is a whole block that we can convert to a care hub for everyone. Transitional housing is on our radar… especially for homeless patients with cancer.”

Johnson is confident that it will eventually open for two or three days a week and eventually include pediatric care. Already, the clinic has expanded to include another six examination rooms and has received a grant to acquire an adjacent property with plans to turn it into an early childhood education and youth drop-in center.

“It’s unique because it’s one of the few student-run clinics in Denver,” McGonagle said. “It’s also one of the few free clinics in Denver, and also one of the few one-stop-shops for primary care for these patients.”