[ambient music] [background chatter] - All these people coming in-- supposed to come in, and then we'll have walk-ins on top of that.

[background chatter] - So there's only one Randy?

- Yes ma'am.

- OK. You don't sound that good.

You sound really stuffy.

Are you sneezing too, or what?

- Mm-hmm.

- OK. How long has it been going on for?

- Oh, it started up I want to say Saturday.

- And you said your nerves aren't doing well?

- My depression isn't doing very well.

I've been finding myself just getting harder and harder and harder to get out of bed every morning, just don't want to do anything at all.

It feels like I'm having to take care of everybody, and nobody wants to clean up after themselves.

I'm having to clean up after everybody, take care of everybody.

- Has ever gotten to the point you think about hurting yourself or wish you weren't here?

- It has.

But then I think about Lily, and that seems to help me stay away from that.

It's another reason why I got "love" tattooed on my wrist.

It's there to remind me that there are people that do love me and need me, and I know my sister would all meet with us combined, and we've lost a lot already.

And we don't need to lose each other.

KAREN KINSELL: It's great to have them.

- Yeah, and I know, if anything, I have my sister.

KAREN KINSELL: Are we sure you're not pregnant now?

- I took two pregnancy tests yesterday, and my period was supposed to be showing up in four days, and they both came back negative.

- OK, so you might be.

What do you want?

- I want to have another baby.

I want a little boy.

I really want a little boy.

- If you're feeling worse in the meantime, call me or come in.

OK?

OK, sweetheart.

And maybe it's not quite right time to get pregnant again.

I don't know.

- Well, if it happens, it happens.

- OK, sweetheart.

Hope you're feeling better.

- Thank you.

Bye.

- If she closed down, then that means that we'd have to travel to find somebody that would take us.

Because, like I said, right now, we don't have any health insurance.

CLINIC WORKER: Did they get the pan fixed?

Because I sprayed the pan that last time they were here.

They said they can fix it by spraying some-- there's some, like, leaks that they can put on it.

And they said, if this does not work, she's going to have to get a new unit.

CLINIC WORKER: There's termites in the door.

We can't fix the gaps in the door because there's termites in the wall.

We'd have to tear out some of the wall just to fix the door.

It's just-- you try to fix one problem, and there's another problem behind it that's even bigger that you would have to fix just to fix a small problem.

CLINIC WORKER: And the posters out on the walls are mainly covering up holes.

MAN: Have health inspectors come through and-- CLINIC WORKER: No.

- No.

I'm sure if they did, we'd shut down.

When you're in a city like this, what health inspectors are going to come to a rural area like this?

I mean, nobody's going to shut down the only doctor's office in the county.

Nobody's going to shut it down.

CLINIC WORKER: Let me explain a little bit about Clay County.

We're one of the poorest counties in Georgia.

We're not talking about kind of poor.

We were talking about this being an extremely poor community.

KAREN KINSELL: Clay County is underserved is the polite word for it.

I'm the only provider in the county.

I've been the only medical provider here for the last 13 years now.

There was a hospital here in Clay County.

It closed in the late 1980s.

The closest regional hospitals are 40 miles away in Alabama or 60 miles in Georgia.

It's a long ways to get to medical care here.

[car door opening] [engine starting] The county is about 3,000.

It's about 60% Black, 40% white.

The front streets are white, all the highways and stuff, and then when you get back beyond that, it's pretty much Black.

It is kind of how it works.

Hey, this is a tree that fell down in October, and it's still there.

This is an all-Black street.

We really don't know what's going to happen.

We know if we don't do something, there's not going to be healthcare here real soon.

And basically, the whole model has been that nobody else had any responsibility for making sure there was healthcare here.

And the county didn't, the city didn't.

The first year that we ranked worst in the Robert Wood Johnson Health Rankings, I told the county administrator that, boy, you know, at some point, you guys have got to step up if you want their healthcare to be here and improve.

You guys have got to do this.

I'll retire at some point, and unless there's some kind of structure, OR somebody has responsibility for healthcare here, there won't be any healthcare here.

[pensive music] Patricia?

Here we are.

Hello.

I thought you were probably looking at me.

How are you?

- I'm OK. - Just OK?

- Yes, ma'am, I'm doing well.

- Yeah?

- I've been in this bed going on 14 years.

KAREN KINSELL: 14?

Yes, ma'am.

- If I live to see this year, it'll be 14.

- But you'd rather stay here that, you know, move to a nursing home?

- Yes, I would.

- Why?

- I worked in a nursing home.

I know how they treat those people in the nursing home, and I don't like it.

I would rather go home with the Lord than to go to the nursing home.

If I don't feel sick, I'm in the word or I'm reading or just writing.

I write about my thoughts, how I feel about being in this bed, people-- you know how you have so many friends when you up, but after you get down, it's nobody.

It looks like everybody walks away from you.

And I try my best to stay up, not to let this bed get to me.

- What would you improve about this situation, though, if you could?

- I think my situation is good.

If I had someone to help me get in the chair-- - Where would you go?

What would you do?

- I'd ride around the neighborhood, get to know the neighbors.

I've been here a long time.

I never wanted to have to depend on no one, nobody but the Lord.

We couldn't survive without him.

[upbeat music] KAREN KINSELL: You know, I grew up in Remington, Indiana, which is a small town in Indiana.

My family is in the seed business.

My father did well.

I've been able to use that background, really, for support since then.

I like to think of it as having just enough money to be dangerous.

I eventually decided that I really wasn't going to be able to make an impact with discovering new varieties of soybeans or whatever, so I moved to New York City.

Across the street from me, there was a man living on the street, and I had just never seen homeless people before.

And I was so struck by that and started volunteering at the New York City Coalition for the Homeless.

I was very taken by the physicians who came.

They really had an ability to help people there.

And so I went back to the idea of that I'd like to go to medical school.

Since I'd really come from a rural area, I was very struck by that there were many rural areas that are even more underserved than some of these poor areas in the cities.

So I literally went to the library and took out a map and a book of statistics, looking for poor areas, and ended up relocating to southwest Georgia, Clay County, which, actually, that year, was considered the most medically underserved county in the state.

- Clay County Medical.

KAREN KINSELL: So many of the people out here can't pay for care.

So I volunteer.

I'm a full-time volunteer.

And that's the only way this system works.

I have some assets-- family money.

But they're about exhausted, so there has to be another plan to, you know, to allow me to continue to volunteer here.

So, hey, how are you doing?

- All right.

Same old.

- Same old?

I know you were here a couple of weeks ago, but you're saying you were just-- had just started in the flare, right?

- Wednesday.

KAREN KINSELL: Did you want to come in before today or-- - I had to-- like I said, I had to wait till I get my payroll to come in.

- OK, honey-- of course, you know, we're always happy to see you.

If you need to come in, you just come on in, OK?

And I mean that.

- OK. - OK.

So you don't feel any better?

- Slightly, but the pain is still-- - Stand up and let me see what you're talking about.

Take a few steps, just so I can kind of see.

Yeah, and then turn around.

And that-- you're walk, that's not that much different than how you always are, right?

How far can you turn your neck to the side?

- That's it right there, almost like a motorcycle.

- I mean, basically, it's just cementing his spine in place.

It doesn't have the flexibility to move, so he can't twist.

He has a degenerative disease of your spine.

I notice you're kind of a sweaty guy.

- Yeah.

[laughter] That's from carrying this weight around all the time.

- Yeah, I mean, are you really prone to sweating a lot?

- Yes, ma'am.

- OK, so maybe-- - I'm hopping.

- Yeah, is it hot in here?

- I said from hopping.

- Oh, hopping.

Yeah.

OK. WOMAN: How long do these flares typically last for?

PATIENT: About two to three months.

Some days be worse than others, but still be pain.

Some days are bearable.

Some days are unbearable.

Unbearable days, I just stay out.

- Have you been going to work for this?

- No, ever since I've been working, like, from '96 to now-- - Did you go ahead and apply for disability, then?

- They supposed to call and let me know on-- what's the end of the date.

- Good.

OK. - They say you got to have no income, but how can you have no income and have a house?

They make you work-- - A place to stay.

- Yeah.

- Yeah, and particularly because the process is so long, it takes about two years to-- from the time you apply for disability until you get it in most cases.

So I mean, how are people supposed to live?

- Exactly.

- Yeah.

I mean, some people are with their family or something, and they can make it.

But if you don't have that, it's-- - Tough being by yourself.

It's rough.

So you can't stay out, so you got to go in pain.

And it's only so much the job going to take about you staying out.

- Yeah.

PATIENT: I appreciate it.

Thank you.

- OK, good to see you.

- All right, hope not see you too soon.

- I hope that would do some good.

WOMAN: I hope you feel better.

- Thank you all.

Y'all have a good day.

- You too.

KAREN KINSELL: Mercer has started negotiations to use us as a model site for rural healthcare.

And so the hope would be that they would be able to partially subsidize-- is partly with doing our billing and that sort of thing and maybe actually some cash.

- This is Brittany at Dr. Kinsell's office.

I need to speak-- KAREN KINSELL: I think Mercer is being a little naive by thinking it's just a billing issue.

About a third of our patients are on a sliding fee scale.

I did agree to increase the minimum sliding fee scale to 15 from 10, which is a 50% increase.

It's noticeable.

And it will go up pretty quickly from the 15th.

And I'm sure that will discourage some patients from coming in.

OK, bye.

And they were asking for all my data before we had a kind of a agreement, and I go, like, no.

You know who the patients are, if you own that data, then you just send an announcement to all of them saying, hey, come to this other doctor down the road.

I really don't think they would do that, but I don't completely trust them.

I can't trust anybody completely, so I want everything in writing before we move much forward.

- Let's go ahead and call the meeting to order.

And the update for Mercer-- Dr. Kinsell and Mercer are still negotiating on her salary.

Charles will facilitate a meeting with Dr. Kinsell and Dr. Sumner at Mercer for further discussion.

- I was just curious about what the board felt about what would be the priorities for what should go in those spaces.

But if this board is the advisory committee for what happens with healthcare here, you know, you all may want to weigh in on what you'd really like to see.

WOMAN: Have you all considered mammograms?

- We have.

My vision for Mercer as a whole is if we're going to do several of these clinics for more expensive, more specialized diagnostic equipment, it would be portable so that we could eventually have it come to each clinic.

There is a company out of Columbus that has reached out to us that is willing to bring mammography here and a portable unit.

- We've aged through two sets of mobile mammograms in this community, and they both have lost their grant, so they've stopped coming.

But that was really pretty well used and absolutely is an aid.

- If, in any way possible, to get some kind of pharmacy in there because, like I say, there's a lot of people that just need that here.

- Where Mercer can be most effective in partnering with Clay County is the core medical services-- to provide medical services to the community.

And I think pharmacy falls well within that.

Pharmacies are very expensive to run.

To run a full-time pharmacy sometimes can be as expensive and just cash flow of, you know, $100,000 a month that just-- it has to be there perpetually.

There's always one thing that stands out as the biggest clinic need immediately, and I think that is time with the provider.

I think you're tapped out.

Priority number one really has to be bringing in another provider and getting us to a position where we can bring in a nurse practitioner, making sure we've got space for two providers.

And then I think we move out from there.

The other option would be to do a community questionnaire, send it out to the community, and you give them a list of services and ask them, maybe on a scale of 1 to 5 or 1 to 10, you know, where do these fall into what would be most utilized by each household.

- That's the kind of spirit of inclusivity that, you know, we all would like to have rather than us sit around a table and decide what we'd like to do.

[slow music] - How's the smoking coming?

- Well, I still don't have the Chantix because they will not take the food stamp thing.

- Had to prove income.

- Yes, they said-- I meant for you those papers from the hospital so you could see what-- - Is there any other kind of proof of income in a household?

- There is no income.

There's no proof of income.

What I'm saying-- the only thing we got is the food stamps.

I mean-- - Yeah.

And how much are your food stamps for the family?

- $321 a month.

- For the two of you?

- Yes.

- OK, so your breathing is still kind of bad.

- He did two X-rays at the hospital and said that my lungs are severely damaged.

It kind of was a wake-up call for me because I had never heard it put like that.

- OK-- with the COPD.

- Yes, yeah.

- How much are you smoking now?

- I would say about 3/4 of a pack, which is a cut down by a quarter of a pack, but it seems like when I'm trying to quit, all I think about is smoking.

- Sure.

It's addictive.

- Yeah, jeez.

- I've got some nicotine in the closet.

Do you want to try that?

- I do.

- OK, let me do that.

Let me show you how to do that.

So the medicine is in here.

There's a little spike in there that's got to soak in here.

So you kind of line it up, and you really have got to-- that's not far enough.

You've got to get it so it's almost like a nickel.

It's all extends out-- - In the end.

KAREN KINSELL: And then you've got to put your mouth right on it and press the gray button and suck it in.

So try that one.

You got to quit smoking.

- Yeah, I am working on that for sure.

I know I need to.

- Yeah, I know it's hard.

- It's real hard.

It's harder than anything I've ever quit.

Like my mom always said, it's my best friend.

It is.

- Really?

- Yeah, I don't make friends real easy-- never have.

I don't trust people that good.

Besides, I've got three sisters.

I don't need a lot of close friends.

- Are you close to your sisters?

- Very.

- OK.

PATIENT: I don't have insurance, and I don't have the money to go to a doctor.

So coming here is-- it's the only way that I would get medical treatment unless I go to the emergency room every other day.

[background chatter] KAREN KINSELL: I collect similar animated figures.

Stop now.

But they-- always thought they were cute.

And you once you start getting them, every time you see one, you get another one.

So actually, they start dying after a while, and so I actually threw a fair number away when we were decluttering last time.

When we closed up my mom's house, we took a trailer up there.

This was my grandfather's rocker, and I think probably predates him.

He died young, so I never met him.

My grandfather was one of the first hybrid seed corn producers in Indiana.

And my father was very involved in that.

My grandfather was poor, but he and my father created wealth, basically.

And I've dissolved it all.

All these oil paintings were by both my grandmothers.

It was very fashionable for ladies of that age to paint landscapes.

This is the one I like the best, from Grandma Goss.

It's moody.

Because I don't do stairs well.

I have a little bit of a balance problem.

And that's where the roof is leaking.

So they are going to deal with that.

Because Robert will probably move here when he retires, maybe in about five years.

So all the space can be his.

- Robert Cook.

He runs a nonprofit in Cordele.

He'll continue to live over there for probably several years, but I've cleared out a drawer for him.

- I didn't get really coupled while I was in New York City, so by the time I came down here, which was getting close to the end of my fertility, I figured if you don't find somebody in a city of 7 million people, you know, get used to it.

I don't know that I'd be that great a parent.

I just had other stuff to do.

When I first came here, I believe I was referred to as DYB, which stands for "damn Yankee bitch."

I had short hair.

I wasn't married.

Everyone assumed I was homosexual.

I'm not from here.

And honestly, after 23 years here, that still makes a difference.

Also complicating that is because there was still the one physician who was here who also happened to be the mayor.

And he really didn't want another doctor in town.

A lot of people supported me who didn't have to stick their neck out because, again, the mayor's people would fight them on it.

But because of all those experiences is why you can't just up and walk away from something like this.

Again, you are doing great.

You came back at two weeks with your appointment because your sugar was crazy last time.

- Yes, ma'am.

- And you have done such a good job of bringing it down.

Now you were talking about drinking so much soda.

Are you doing better with that?

- Yes ma'am.

- How much are you drinking now?

- I drink diet soda.

- You went to diet soda?

- Yes.

- Bless your heart.

But you gained 12 pounds.

That's probably because you're just not so sick from the sugar being so high.

- Yes ma'am.

- I bet you feel better too.

- I feel much better.

- So I'm going to order you one more medicine.

You know, somebody said they-- who you to get your pills from.

These people-- they'll send you pills for free.

Now do you use the computer much?

- No ma'am.

- OK.

Your girlfriend was here last time.

Is she good with the computer?

- Yeah, I think my sister had one.

- OK-- or they use it on their phone?

- I think so.

- OK.

AUTOMATED VOICE: If you are a new patient and need to register, press 1.

If you are a current.

- And nobody has an email, then?

- No.

- OK.

This is Dr. Kinsell, K-I-N-S-E-L-L, at Clay County Medical Center-- Medical Center.

So many of our patients don't have email, so we can't register email.

And it won't take the phone without that.

You tell them-- they said they would send us faxable forms down so that-- the other day.

- That was a doctor-- yes, ma'am-- was trying to say he doesn't have an email address.

- What they're going to do is they're going to send you three months of this one and this one and the two new ones, and then they're going to send you a bill for $6 for that first time.

And then you can send them a money order or something back, so it does work out quite a bit cheaper.

So we can make you an appointment back next month, and then if you keep doing so good, we make it every three months or something.

- OK. - OK?

- OK. - But you've done your job.

Now just figure out how to use a machine so you can-- because you can figure it out-- if you can check it maybe once a day.

[cows mooing] Well, we're still talking with Mercer.

They seem to have changed their plans for this clinic.

The plan was always that they would take care of the poor people who live here.

There was talk about a minimum sliding fee schedule, starting at $15, but that no one would be turned away.

They kind of questioned that we needed that.

I think we've resolved that, but it just makes no sense for healthcare to be open in Clay County if we can't see all the people who are here.

And, of course, that's the reason I'm here.

And if I can't do that, I won't stay here.

[slow music] Mercer has told me from the beginning that they would hire me, although at a very low salary.

And then they literally came down and signed the agreement to get the lease on the building that's being renovated and drove over here and told me that, you know, they decided not to hire me.

I was completely devastated-- could not function.

I think really it has more to do with that they do not want to honor their commitments, their repeated commitments, to offer affordable care here.

When they opened the clinic, I think they're primarily expecting people who have insurance.

Now big breaths.

And you know, it kind of makes sense, except for the fact that Clay is one of the top five uninsured counties in Georgia, one of the poorest counties in Georgia, and has the worse health status in Georgia.

I couldn't envision, at first, even being able to stay open here because I assume they'll take some patients.

But I'm going to stay open.

I can't abandon my individual patients, knowing that they're not going to get the care that they need.

And so I can't leave.

You can't just walk away.

- OK, have a good day now.

- Take care now.

- Take care.

[pensive music] - I just love to sit here and look up at the-- during the COVID, the leaves were just starting to come out.

[phone ringing] This is Dr. Kinsell.

I'm sorry I'm calling you late.

What's going on with you?

Did your wife end up with the virus?

MALE PATIENT (ON PHONE): Yeah, she ended up with the virus.

- Oh my word.

How is she now?

MALE PATIENT (ON PHONE): She's fine.

She went back-- well, she went back to work about three weeks ago, and I did too.

- But you never caught it?

MALE PATIENT (ON PHONE): I never caught it.

If I had it, I didn't know it because I didn't have the first symptom.

- How do you feel otherwise?

MALE PATIENT (ON PHONE): So last time, I spoke with you, I had got on this diet.

And I lost about 25 pounds.

- Have you kept the weight off?

MALE PATIENT (ON PHONE): No, I haven't got any back.

- Would you be able to come over to the office tomorrow?

COVID still is kind of really going around.

We're getting a lot of calls in Clay County this week, so that's why we're not just opening the doors.

But I'll have the nurse call you in tomorrow because I definitely want to check your sugar again.

MALE PATIENT (ON PHONE): OK, that'll work.

- OK, good.

I'm glad you-- glad you let us know about this.

Be safe.

MALE PATIENT (ON PHONE): Yes ma'am.

You too.

- OK, hon.

Bye-bye.

I say, I want to work for another 5 or 10 years, till I'm 70 or 75, but you know, I don't have much of anything saved up for retirement, so I have to be working part-time even just sustain myself.

I started work as the medical director at the methadone clinic in Columbus.

So right now, I'm getting up at 3:45, four days a week, and that gets tiring.

You know, I presume Mercer is still planning on opening.

I don't know what'll happen when they open.

I mean, they may suck up everybody over there.

- Miss Kathy, this is Brandy, Dr. Kinsell's office.

Please give me a call.

KAREN KINSELL: Line two is someone calling about an appointment.

You said Kendrick was on hold for me?

JOURNALIST: In tonight's Brief But Spectacular, we visit Dr. Karen Kinsell.

She's the only physician in Fort Gaines, Georgia, where she serves her town's 3,000 residents.

KAREN KINSELL: Our office was not built as a doctor's office and really shouldn't be a doctor's office.

I really wish I was a better public speaker-- comes off as such a downer.

I'm not animated.

- Well, that's the camera thing.

There was a PBS piece that aired about two months ago, and they had told us, oh, be sure you have a Facebook page and everything because you're going to get a lot of donations afterwards.

And I kind of pooh-poohed that.

But we just started getting letters and donations in the mail.

I got some phone calls, but most people just mailed things.

So far, it's been a little over 30,000.

People have no idea how touching that is that someone happened to see that piece and mailed a check.

I mean, it's just astonishing.

And I feel inadequate.

You know, I mean, what is a good enough response to thank them for this?

This is from Tennessee.

This is from Maryland.

I'm going to be able to purchase the building where the clinic is.

The estate that we've been renting it from is giving me a very reasonable price.

- Termites ate it right up.

KAREN KINSELL: We closed for COVID, and we had this opportunity to make some major renovations to the office.

I think it will maintain our patient base, probably attract new patients, and prevent the building from just rotting out in the meantime.

We knew this building had to be upgraded one way or another.

And I didn't see how I could afford to do it.

- This will be the doc's office-- doctor's office.

And he has his own bathroom.

This is the lab.

Go in, take a urine sample, you put it in that room.

[whistling] This room is going to be primarily telemedicine, and then X-ray room.

Mercer will provide the X-ray.

- A couple of weeks I would guess.

KEN PENUEL: It is happening.

Thank goodness.

After years and years, it is happening.

KAREN KINSELL: Hi.

PATIENT: Hey.

KAREN KINSELL: How are you?

- I've been seeing that psychiatrist.

I've been going to the group sessions there in Cuthbert.

And it was tied into the Cuthbert hospital.

Well, they closed the Cuthbert hospital.

Therefore, I don't have a psychiatrist anymore.

- Well, what did they say to do, then?

- They said I'd have to find a doctor.

- They didn't say anything else?

- That's exactly what they said, that you find you another doctor.

- OK, let me give you the phone number for the one that's closest.

And you've lost some more weight, too, haven't you?

- Yeah, that concerns me too.

KAREN KINSELL: What's going on there.

- Does your stomach hurt?

You just don't have interest in it.

Is it partly the COVID?

- No, no.

- You're fine-- you're fine with COVID?

OK.

I heard you were dizzy today?

PATIENT: I've been dizzy for about a week now.

- Whoa, what's going on?

- I don't know.

I'm just tired.

My legs hurt when I walk.

I just get so dizzy.

Like yesterday at Walmart, I had to call my husband and tell him to come get me.

- But yeah, if you're having symptoms with this, we're going to have to get you to someplace where they can check you out better.

Do you want to go to Albany or Dawson?

KAREN KINSELL: Where is a good one?

- Well, go to the ER.

KAREN KINSELL: We can't have you feel this miserable.

Do you want us to call the ambulance or you're going to go home and get your husband?

- I'll go home and get my husband.

KAREN KINSELL: OK. Do you feel strong enough to drive back up there?

- Yeah, I do.

I can do it.

That's a lot of medicine.

KAREN KINSELL: Yeah, it is.

[somber music] - So that's at 2.6 degrees, which is-- it has to be under 5.

Well, we thought the office freezer would be functional by the time it came.

And it was not.

So we had to bring it to my home freezer, which is maintaining temperature.

So I have 30 people scheduled, so I'm going to go ahead and remove three vials.

So you're going to take those in your car?

- Yeah, I'll take them in my car.

- OK. - And then thermometer here is 37, which is good.

This was the list of patients from our computer as who were 75 or over.

I contacted everyone who I knew who was not in a nursing home or that I know had passed.

And Robert, what we didn't do yesterday is temperatures at the door.

OK, that is on button towards the bottom there.

Good morning.

- Good morning.

Good morning.

Come in the house.

I need to take your temperature.

- OK. Good morning.

- Y'all are, bless your hearts, the first group today.

So you're going to get the brand new fresh vaccine that's just had a chance to warm up.

- Kind of let you have a seat over here.

Clay County has been hit badly this past week or two.

City Hall is closed.

There's been an outbreak at the post office.

So we decided we just needed to go ahead and get this out.

We weren't expecting to get it so soon, but it just arrived by FedEx Wednesday afternoon, so that's why y'all got called.

- This is Dr. Frank Isele.

He's a retired pathologist that lives out on the lake.

So he gave me my shot yesterday that still hurts.

I'm not saying it's your fault.

- Well, she gave me my shot, and it still hurts.

- Is there somebody else that can give the shot?

[laughter] [background chatter] - The state has kind of a priority list.

We're getting very little direction from the state about how that's supposed to happen.

They've done no planning that we can perceive about this whole thing.

You OK?

- Good.

- Good.

- Hello.

Do you want me to bring your shot over here so you don't have to walk over?

- I got it yet?

- Yeah, you did.

- Here for the COVID vaccine?

Come in.

Come in.

Welcome.

Hi.

- Who's next.

- Quite seriously, I would love to help if I can.

I can sure do phone calls and handle any paperwork if you need any help.

- Thank you.

OK, you're good.

- Well, you're welcome.

It's a privilege.

[background chatter] KAREN KINSELL: Yeah, that's what I like, straight old men hollering at me.

[laughter] - Do you have an EpiPen?

MALE PATIENT: It go around your neck and it goes in your arm.

- See, this isn't blood pressure.

It's a shot.

So pull your arm out of the sleeve, I think.

Yeah, go ahead and do that.

- I don't have a doctor, what are you doing.

- The COVID vaccine?

Have a seat.

- OK, let us know.

- I need to take your temperature.

I'm supposed to do that.

- Hey, this is Dr. Kinsell.

Hey, hon, we have the coronavirus vaccine in now.

Do you think Erlene would be interested in taking it?

It should work, yeah.

Would you want me to stop by the house and give it to her or-- OK, we'll be up in just in about the next half hour.

OK, bye-bye.

[car doors closing] - Well, don't you look nice.

- How are you doing?

KAREN KINSELL: I'm doing great.

- Merry Christmas.

KAREN KINSELL: Merry Christmas.

How old are you?

- 100 and-- 100 and 3 months.

KAREN KINSELL: Are you sick today?

- No ma'am.

- That was it.

- That's it?

- That's it.

- You're looking good.

You look like you in your 20s.

Thank you, ma'am.

- It didn't hurt?

- No, ma'am.

It didn't hurt.

And I thank you.

- Hey, it was fun.

WOMAN: She got a good appetite.

[music playing] - I mean, if people need to be seen, they need to be seen.

It's not-- you know, we can make time anytime.

- You want some more water?

[upbeat music] ROBERT: Yeah, OK. - Yeah, although I should put the pearls on here.

- Yeah, let me take the pearls out so you can put them on.

- I got pearls for Christmas, and they look pretty decent.

Well, we decided to get married because you know, we see death and illness all around us, partly.

Robert actually had some reaction to the vaccine.

You know, you think something could happen-- shit.

And we decided it's time to get on with our lives.

ROBERT: Well, and honestly, that's been my big issue about marriage in the first place is something could happen.

And I don't want to have to argue with hospital personnel about do I get to see my beloved.

We both had the commitment-- we got a commitment to a long-term monogamous relationship, and that's what it is.

[wedding music playing] - Walk slowly.

- I, Robert-- OFFICIANT: Take you, Karen-- - --take you, Karen-- OFFICIANT: --to be my spouse and partner in marriage.

ROBERT: --to be my spouse and partner in marriage.

- I, Karen-- OFFICIANT: Take you, Robert-- - Take you, Robert-- OFFICIANT: --to be my spouse and partner in marriage-- - --to be my spouse and partner in marriage-- OFFICIANT: --to have and to hold-- - --to have and to hold-- OFFICIANT: --from this day forward-- - --from this day forward-- OFFICIANT: --to love and to cherish-- - --to love and to cherish-- OFFICIANT: --until we are parted by death.

- --until we are parted by death.

OFFICIANT: This is my solemn vow.

- This is my solemn vow.

OFFICIANT: You may kiss.

[star wars theme] [applause] [upbeat music] KAREN KINSELL: I really feel more energized than I have in years.

It's such a privilege to know that, you know, you're needed and good at all these areas.

It's almost like magic.

I thought we were just going to have to close when Mercer opened.

And that's not been the case at all.

We've been able to keep the office open and, actually, the clinic is now paying me some.

I found some princess stuff for you.

Do you like princesses?

You do?

There's a coloring book and some colors.

How's your breathing doing?

PATIENT: My breathing fine, but my side-- KAREN KINSELL: We'll continue to see people regardless of their ability to pay.

But the reality that is the reality here.

People cannot afford to pay for healthcare.

If I leave town or dropped dead or whatever, there isn't anything-- people won't get healthcare.

So I really worry after me.

Again, what do you do with the poor people?

[somber music] - There's a whole lot of people here with their families.

- Get the sticker off the painting.

- You feel sick today?

[somber music continues] ♪ ♪ ♪ - [Announcer] Support for "Reel South" is provided by the ETV Endowment.

And the National Endowment for the Arts.