Volunteer podiatrist joins Allentown Rescue Mission’s free clinic, sneaker donations sought

ALLENTOWN, Pa. — The Allentown Rescue Mission has added a board-certified podiatrist to the volunteer team at its in-house DeSales Free Medical Clinic, filling a vacancy in what the Mission says is the most-requested medical specialty among the men who seek shelter there.

Jose Loor, DPM, has been treating residents of the 145-bed shelter once a month since January, according to the Mission’s April 28 announcement.

Loor donates his time. He fills a vacancy left by the Mission’s previous podiatrist, who served the clinic for nearly a decade and retired last year, said Stefanie Appel, the Mission’s community relations representative.

Many men arrive at the Mission with undiagnosed chronic conditions like high blood pressure and diabetes, but don’t seek care for them because nothing feels different from their normal baseline, Appel said.

Foot pain, on the other hand, is something they notice — often the result of long stretches of walking, exposure to cold weather, or shoes that no longer fit. “They feel the way they felt forever,” Appel said. “But they do know their feet hurt.”

The Mission, a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit founded in 1900, provides shelter to nearly 1,000 men each year and serves more than 60,000 meals, according to the organization. Its emergency shelter operates 365 days a year.

Loor began volunteering after relocating to Pennsylvania and being introduced to the Mission by a fellow parishioner at his church, the Mission said in its announcement.

He has since restarted a private practice, DeLoor Podiatry, with a home office in Northampton, Pa., and two offices in New York City, and also subcontracts at local nursing homes. He is a captain in the U.S. Army Reserve.

“I wanted to start working with people who needed me and then get back into the business sector,” Loor said in the Mission’s announcement.

Loor earned his doctorate in podiatric medicine from Touro University’s New York College of Podiatric Medicine and completed a surgical residency at Metropolitan Hospital and Lincoln Hospital in New York, followed by a fellowship in podiatric radiology and an orthopedic trauma preceptorship at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell, according to the Mission.

Loor has been seeing patients monthly since January, and demand has been steady, Appel said. She said she observed a clinic on April 16 for three hours and that Loor was busy treating men the entire time she was there.

In addition to examinations, Loor fits patients with new shoes from a storage room maintained by the Mission. That supply is now running low, Appel said, and the Mission is asking the public to donate new sneakers — not dress shoes — to replenish it.

About the DeSales Free Medical Clinic

The podiatry service is one piece of a broader partnership between the Mission and DeSales University, the Catholic university in Center Valley that has operated the in-house clinic since 2007. The clinic is housed in two rooms inside the Mission that have been remodeled to resemble a medical office.

DeSales physician assistant students staff the clinic two evenings a week alongside volunteer doctors, nurses and faculty, according to the university. Rotations at the clinic are a curricular requirement for first- and second-year students in the university’s physician assistant program.

The clinic focuses on acute illness, prevention and the management of chronic conditions, according to DeSales. Services are free and limited to men residing at the Mission. The clinic recorded 352 patient visits last year, Appel said.

Suzanne Cressman, director of the DeSales Free Clinic, oversees the program for the university.

Appel said the clinic is essential because most of the men it serves would not otherwise receive care.

“If they would not be in our building, seeing the men twice a week, most of these men would not seek medical attention,” she said.

Donations of new sneakers can be dropped off at the Allentown Rescue Mission, 355 W. Hamilton St., Allentown. More information is available at allentownrescuemission.org.