He has used the Medical Clinic for the past 20 years and says it is the only reason he is still alive today.

Diagnosed with AIDS in 1986, Joeseph Ascento was initially ashamed of the disease he says attacks everyone differently, but with the help of the doctors, nurses and pink ladies at the clinic he feels supported.

With its impending, however, Mr. Ascento says rather than feeling ashamed as a patient at the Medical Clinic - he feels devastated.

It was not always this way for Mr. Ascento who at the age of 27, his prime working years, found out he had AIDS.

Mr. Ascento attended the Elliot School and went on to St. George’s Secondary followed by the Bermuda Hotel College, which helped him get employed at the Castle Harbour Hotel as a bus boy until it closed and then at the Sonesta Hotel until 1985.

During the years of employment, he never needed any help from the clinic, however the life changing event of being diagnosed with AIDS left Mr. Ascento unemployed and in 1986, unable to afford a doctor.

It was then he was referred to the Medical Clinic, which used to be called the Indigent Clinic.

Mr. Ascento described the clinic as a “lifesaver” without which his disability cheque, a mere $233 a month along with another $307 twice a month at the shopping center, would never support the medications and visits he needs to cope with his disease.

Because Mr. Ascento is on disability, he is not able to have a full-time job and due to the restrictions from the disease he would be unable to hold a full-time job, anyway he says.

Though Mr. Ascento is struggling with his disease and is deaf in one ear, he repeatedly expressed concern about the other patients and the nurses at the clinic and not his own well-being.

He said: “Seems like they’re discriminating against the people there. Trying to make us feel like we’re neglected, but what’s going to happen to the nurses?”

Jenny Brooks, who organised a petition against the closing of the clinic, says Mr. Ascento’s lack of concern for his individual situation speaks to the community the clinic established.

The the redistribution of patients, she says, would be like splitting up a family.

Miss Brooks got involved after speaking to patients during a soup run for the Salvation Army and following the firing of Dr. Katherine Wakely from the clinic.

She added:”The patients were so excited that someone was going to do something about it.

“They are all wondering what will happen when the clinic closes, will they have to pay for their medications and what happens if they go to a new doctor? Because right now they can get everything under one roof.

“The availability for them is great. They can just go upstairs to get the medication rather than trying to arrange transportation to get to a pharmacy and then what happens if the pharmacy doesn’t have the right plan and they have to pay?”

In his Throne Speech last year Premier Ewart Brown announced the closure of the clinic because the Government felt maintaining a clinic based on financial need was an indignity to the patients.

Government has promised that patients will still have access to the same services - including transportation, X-rays, eye exams, medication and MRIs.

And previously Dr. Brown said the services would be offered through six doctors. Yesterday Dr. Brown said 13 doctors had agreed to take clinic patients.

In a statement from the Ministry of Health, the question of physicians was clarified.

The Ministry of Health stated: “The Bermuda Hospitals Board is working closely with Government to assure a smooth transition for clinic patients and will maintain its Medical Clinic service until all patients are transferred to the physician of their choice.”

Further trying to clarify their position, the department promised to meet with clients when they attend appointments at the clinic, which the Government believes is the best way for the patients to hear about its future.

Government has also promised meetings in the coming weeks with staff at the clinic, physicians and transport providers, which will help formulate their plan, to then be shared with clients and then with the public.

And this is exactly what Miss Brooks and Mr. Ascento are asking for - a discussion with all of those affected by this decision and a clear plan for patients following the closure.

Mr. Ascento worries the price he will have to pay for the closure of the clinic, saying: “If I have to start paying, my disability cheque won’t be enough. Dr. Brown says it’s only going to be $2 to $5 a visit, but it’s going to be more than that.”

He has to worry not only about the visit to his doctor, but also for the medication he must take every night before going to bed and right now can simply return to the clinic to refill the prescription.

The easy one-stop refill situation for Mr. Ascento is helpful because his only transportation is the bus and because his legs are affected by AIDS, he says walking takes a lot out of him.

And Miss Brooks hopes the petition, which has more than 2,000 signatures and the April 10 march from the flag pole on Front Street to the Cabinet building to present them, will make a difference to Mr. Ascento and the other 2,000 patients at the clinic.

She said: “Overall we had two goals - to give the patients a voice and make them part of the process and the second was to allow the Bermuda public to see what was going to happen because they have a right to know what their Government is doing.”