Attorney Michelle Swanstrom of Ottumwa manages the Southeast Iowa Regional Office of Iowa Legal Aid. Her office serves 13 southern Iowa counties.

Swanstrom said the Health and Law Project unites the efforts of attorney at Iowa Legal Aid and the medical staff of the Iowa Nebraska Primary Care Association Clinics in several Iowa cities, including River Hills in Ottumwa.

Legal Aid will work with people who are new to the Ottumwa area, according to Swanstrom.

“There a whole new population of vulnerable people here,” she said. “Also, in many situations people are intimidated and if there’s no one there to advocate for them, people get lost in the shuffle.”

Swanstrom said she and Johnson “didn’t come up with this.” It started in Boston with a family advocacy group that included lawyers and doctors. The group concluded many patients’ health issues stemmed from, or were made worse by, legal problems.

Cindy Toopes can be reached at (641) 683-5376 or via e-mail at cindy@ottumwacourier.com.

For more information

• River Hills Community Health Center, (641) 683-5773

• Legal Aid-Iowa, (641) 683-3166 or online at: www.IowaLegalAidFoundation