How this Former oncologist rededicated himself to providing healthcare for Monmouth County’s least fortunate

By Laura D.C. Kolnoski • Photos By Premier Digital

In the late 1990s, Red Bank physicians and community leaders went door-to-door polling residents about their insurance status; they found that almost half the families on the borough’s west side didn’t have any. One member of the group read about a clinic in South Carolina that recruited retired physicians as volunteer healthcare providers. The group’s desire to provide care for their community’s uninsured took off, and Dr. Eugene Cheslock of Little Silver became a local legend in philanthropy as a result.

He named the free clinic for legendary father-son West Side physicians Drs. James Parker Sr. and Jr., who treated patients for over 80 years combined. Dr. Cheslock knew the junior Dr. Parker and admired him greatly. The elder Dr. Parker was the son of slaves who established his practice in Red Bank during an influenza epidemic and made house calls in a horse and carriage. Dr. Parker Jr. worked in a front-line U.S. Army M.A.S.H. unit during the Korean War.

The clinic opened on July 31, 2000 in a nearly empty parking lot, three patients walking into a donated trailer outfitted for medical care by Riverview Medical Center. Today, it is the neighborhood’s proverbial family doctor, with over 12,000 patient visits annually and offers a broad range of services with a focus on prevention, health promotion, disease management, children’s health, and support services. Doctors volunteer better than 3,000 hours annually, while nurses log another 2,000 volunteer hours. A children’s dental program has been instituted, clients can get prescriptions filled at negotiated prices, and more than 800 children receive well-child exams and immunizations annually. The non-profit clinic, remarkably, does not receive insurance reimbursement or even regularly budgeted government support.

“During my years of medical practice, I could not help noticing the increasing numbers of the medically uninsured and the resulting strain on the health care system,” said Cheslock, an oncologist who served as vice-president of Red Bank’s Riverview Medical Center. “The Congressional Budget Office projects that by 2022, there will be 30 million still uninsured in the United States, not including immigrants, but the issue of the uninsured goes beyond raw numbers.”

As charity and non-profit organizations struggle to bring in the levels of donations they once did, the Parker Clinic finds itself at an unusual disadvantage.

“At Parker, it’s either dollars or professional medical experience that are donated, and we go quietly on,” Cheslock said. “Hunger is easily identified. Individuals can volunteer in the soup kitchen and pantry, bring in food and clothing and find other ways to participate and help,” adding, however, that the clinic faces different challenges.

“We are uncertain of the impact of the Affordable Care Act [ACA] yet,” Cheslock said. “There’s a major disconnect between the stock market, prosperity, and what’s going on at the street level. The ACA has created a false impression that everyone has some form of healthcare. One of our major donors recently said to me, ‘You don’t need me anymore because everyone has insurance.’ People on the lower end don’t qualify because they are too poor, deductibles are too high for those who must pay out of pocket, and some doctors don’t take Medicaid. Many remain uninsured as a result, and we are trying to get our eligible clients healthcare plans through the ACA.”

There is an upside, however; there is staunch support from area individuals, businesses, and groups, including one rock ‘n’ roll icon who resides nearby. Jon Bon Jovi got involved with the Parker Clinic in 2003 when members of the Spanish Honor Society at Rumson-Fair Haven High School asked him to play a concert to benefit the clinic. The concert raised $60,000 and led to a feature on ABC’s 20-20. When Bon Jovi played a series of concerts to open Newark’s Prudential Center, he directed some of the profits to Parker Clinic. Jon Corzine, governor at the time, personally made a “generous gift.” Dorothea Bongiovi, Jon’s wife, still sits on the clinic’s board.

“They have always had an open door for me,” Cheslock said. “They epitomize those folks who have done well, share their fortunes, and never forget where they came from. They like to produce, not promise, and are saints in my opinion.”

Blocks from the clinic is the Bon Jovi-inspired Soul Kitchen, where customers can either work for their meal or pay a nominal fee. The doctor said there is a synergy between the two institutions, with guests and clients availing themselves of both.

During the interview with Cheslock, he expressed elation at the recent addition of seven new professional volunteers, all specialists. Among the arrivals was Dr. Gail Reilly, who took over for Dr. Roy Carman, Medical Director of the clinic for five years. Dr. Reilly, with 25 years of medical experience, was a lieutenant commander in the U.S. Navy and served on a flotilla before joining the Patterson Clinic at Fort Monmouth.

Parker Clinic’s major annual fund-raiser is its golf outing, which took place in June, but plans are currently underway for another fund-raiser this fall. (Details will be forthcoming on the clinic’s website.) When the facility celebrated its tenth anniversary in 2010, some 200 people attended a tent party in the parking lot and Cheslock was there honored by the Monmouth County Board of Chosen Freeholders for his service to the community. (Red Bank Mayor Pasquale “Pat” Menna called him “Saint Gene Cheslock.”)

Rather than speak about himself, he prefers to spread the gospel of the good his clinic does, and how a larger community of giving is essential to its future.

“We are a magical union of committed professionals who donate experience…married to a unique geographic section of gods on earth,” Cheslock said, poetically. “That connection keeps us going, but it’s a fragile one. The area’s disadvantaged constitute a pocket of poverty within a much wealthier suburban county. Doing good for man is what we’re all about.”

Dr. Eugene F. Cheslock, President
Parker Family Health Center
211 Shrewsbury Ave., Red Bank / 732.212.0777 / parkerfamilyhealthcenter.org