FREE CLINIC IN PACOIMA LOOKING FOR VOLUNTEERS : MEND PROGRAM SEEKS EXPANSION.

Byline: Luz Villarreal Daily News Staff Writer

Dr. Paul Dohi smiled at his pint-sized, limited English-speaking patient and, in Spanish, asked her to open her mouth.

``Abra la boca,'' he said as he pointed an otoscope into her mouth, then her ears and nose. ``You don't have anything real bad. No muy mal. Let me listen to your corazon (heart).''

Nine-year-old Anna Villalobos giggled as she followed his directions. Her mother, Maria Villalobos, was relieved. Her daughter's slight cold and sore throat were nothing serious.

Outside the examining room, about 40 adults and children crowded into the waiting room or stood in the hallway waiting to be called in by Dohi, a pediatrician, and one other doctor.

The scene is repeated most Thursday afternoons and there never seems to be a shortage of patients at this once-a-week free clinic offered by Meeting Each Need with Dignity, or MEND, a nonprofit social service agency in Pacoima. The waiting list for an appointment is usually two weeks.

Clinic officials hope to meet the increasing demand by expanding services for the poor and uninsured in the area to five days a week with the help of a new two-year $98,000 grant.

The money, awarded by the California Endowment, will be used to buy medications, equipment, supplies, lab work and promotional materials, and for a full-time staff member, said Ben Gordon, MEND's health services coordinator.

What it won't pay for is professional help such as doctors, nurses, pharmacists, translators and medical assistants. Since 1991, the clinic has operated almost entirely at the mercy of volunteer help. To accomplish the ``five-day-a-week'' goal, the agency will need to expand its volunteer base from about 30 people who volunteer at least once a month to about 150 people.

``It's not hard to find clients,'' said Gordon, the clinic's only paid staff member. ``It's harder to find professional volunteers.''

Some of the money from the grant will be used to publish a pamphlet publicizing the clinic, which will be sent to medical professionals in the area as a recruitment tool.

Many of the clinic's volunteers are retired professionals like Dohi of Sherman Oaks.

``I think if we beat the bushes hard enough, there would be people available to help us,'' said Dohi, who has volunteered his time at MEND's clinic since 1993. ``Many people usually in practice have more time than people who are doing their residency.''

Dr. Tom Kikuchi, a retired internist from Northridge, believes it is just a matter of publicizing the need.

``I think there are a lot of doctors, but maybe they just don't know about it,'' he said. ``It's an untapped resource.''

Each year the demand for services by clients has increased as government-funded health services become more scarce and health insurance more expensive, Gordon said.

``The medical system is in an incredible time of flux,'' said Gordon. ``MEND is a place not only where we can help people being missed and falling through the cracks, but where a care-giver can give the kind of care they want. A lot of people who do this can do it and look back at a time when medicine was more personal.''

Dr. Daniel Ruben, who has donated his time at the clinic for five years, said volunteers like himself are there for one reason - ``to help people.''

``It's nice for private volunteer services to do this instead of relying on government,'' he said.

In 1994, 566 clients used the clinic for help that varied from vaccinations to health screenings, general exams, and monitoring of diabetes and hypertension. In 1995, the number of patients nearly doubled. Numbers were not available for 1996.

Although the service and medications are free, clients are encouraged to donate $2 per visit.

Maria Villalobos is more than happy to pay the fee.

``There are many other people like me who need these services,'' said the Pacoima mother of four who lost her medical insurance when she became unemployed from her factory job four months ago. ``I know the people who work here are volunteers and I'm very grateful to them.''

Gabriela Mendez, also from Pacoima, carried her crying 1-year-old daughter Andrea, who had a fever, inside Dohi's exam room. Her 3-year-old son Francisco held his mother's belongings and his little sister's jacket as the doctor went to retrieve medicine from the in-house pharmacy.

``The first time I came here, I brought my son because he had a fever and a cough,'' said Mendez, who learned about the clinic though word of mouth. ``They treated him, gave him some medicine and he was better the next day. I don't know where we would go without this clinic here.''

CAPTION(S):

2 Photos

PHOTO (1) Dr. Paul Dohi checks 1-year-old Andrea Mendez's ear while her mother, Gabriela, and brother, Francisco, watch.

(2) Jonathan Cruz, 6, waits with his family at the free clinic sponsored by Meeting Each Need with Dignity in Pacoima. MEND offers the examinations and medicine by appointment each Thursday, but hopes to expand to five days a week if it can attract more medical professionals to volunteer.

David Sprague/Daily News