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"Craig (pictured on the left) was a successful mortgage broker. One night, a 23-year-old- wrong way drunk driver hit him head on. He broke his neck, ribs, arm and had many other serious problems. He spent a month in the hospital and ½ year in a rehab facility. He lost everything and had to move in with his parents. He was used to being independent but He had no money, no insurance and he needed help.
Of course, the accident took a huge physical and mental toll on him. At Lake Area Free Clinic, he was able to get counseling and other medical resources to help him as he continued to piece his life back together. It has been a challenge for him to stay in a job but he is currently employed and working very hard to get himself whole again. Craig said that everyone went above and beyond to help him. He said 'I want people to know that you help people put their lives back together. I was helped more than I could ever have imagined- physically mentally and emotionally.'" |
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What is one thing you want people to know about your clinic? - "We would like people to know that we strive to be resourceful and provide adequate care to all people in the community."
What successes has your clinic experienced? - "During this pandemic, Health Connections, Inc. has been able to expand its reach beyond our normal scope of services and across all sectors. We have built trusted relationships with community members especially those of vulnerable populations who have been highly affected by COVID-19. We were also able to provide employment to those who were affected by COVID-19 and teach them new skills." What are you excited for at your clinic? - "We are excited to see what is next. We were able to connect and partner with several entities we haven't in the past which will allow us to work together in the future on exciting new projects." What are some challenges your clinic has faced and how have you overcome these challenges? - "One challenge Health Connections, Inc. has is finding the right people to complete this work. The challenge is that we are taking care of people during the pandemic while we are also experiencing the pandemic in our own personal lives. Those who are built for this work can find solace in knowing that their contribution is changing peoples’ lives." |
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“Health Care Network is the only free clinic that provides medical, dental, and social services to the uninsured patients of Racine County. In the past few years, we have expanded our social services program and hired a full-time dental hygienist, and we are in the process of implementing an electronic medical record, among other exciting projects! Throughout every initiative, we are tremendously grateful for our loyal donors, talented staff members (pictured on the right), and dedicated volunteers for always keeping HCN’s patients at the forefront of our mission.”
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What is one thing you want people to know about your clinic? - "We serve all people who are at or below 300 % of Federal Poverty Level."
What successes has your clinic experienced? - "We received a grant to add a Care Management Nurse and saw 20% of our Diabetic Patients with Hypertension get in control since we started the program! We partnered with one of the Universities to add a Care Navigator to help with the social needs of our patients. They help with getting Food Share or access to local pantries, housing needs, job assistance, and more. We have now added an interface with WIR (Wisconsin Immunization Registry) so we are now up-to-date when the patient comes in for a visit it bi-directionally updates the patient record as well as WIR’s record. We also partnered with Ascension to use their translation services program, which gives us access to over 300 languages." What are you excited for at your clinic? - "That we are able to serve the whole person with our Clinical Care (Primary healthcare, labs, medications, specialists, etc.), Care Management, Care Navigation (Social Assistance needs) and Counseling." What are some challenges your clinic has faced and how have you overcome these challenges? - "We continue to be challenged with funding as most nonprofits are. We continue to work on grants and foundations as we can. We also are challenged in the COVID testing and vaccination area and will be starting to offer these services in April – May timeframe." |
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What is one thing you want people to know about your clinic? - "Our clinic is staffed with highly skilled providers who are dedicated to caring for patients who don’t have medical insurance."
What successes has your clinic experienced? - "We have continued to maintain and recruit more providers from various specialties to care for our patients. There is a great need in the community for specialty care for the uninsured. Our providers have detected serious health issues (i.e. cancer, kidney failure, heart disease, neurological disorders, etc.) that would have otherwise gone untreated." What are you excited for at your clinic? - "The opportunity to care for more patients in our beautiful new clinic space (picture on the left)." What are some challenges your clinic has faced and how have you overcome these challenges? - "Helping our community leaders understand who we are, what our role is, and how we function. Our clinic is such a unique niche. Like many non-profits, qualifying for grants to ensure financial stability is an on-going challenge." |
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"The student-led and run Saturday Clinic for the Uninsured (SCU), throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, has reaffirmed its commitment to our patients. One of the ways we have done so is through our telehealth program. Currently, patients can be seen at SCU not only in person on Saturdays but also via telehealth during the week on Tuesdays. SCU offers a wide array of specialty services including, but not limited to dermatology, gynecology, neurology and more. We also have Resource Navigators in our clinic that focus on social determinants of health access for our patients. SCU is a well-rounded clinic that strives to provide comprehensive, quality care that can empower patients to achieve their optimal health outcomes."
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What is one thing you want people to know about your clinic? - "St. Clare Health Mission is a free clinic and free pharmacy. In recent years, we've worked to turn some of our focus outside clinic walls and reach into the community with Community Health Workers, Street Medicine - serving the sheltered and unsheltered homeless community, and, in a few months, we'll have our Rotary Mobile Medical Clinic (pictured on the right) in partnership with area Rotaries."
What successes has your clinic experienced? - "Mobile Medical Clinic, Full-time In-house mental health therapist, Increasing our reach with Community Health Workers." What are you excited for at your clinic? - "We're really excited about our mobile medical clinic and the expansion of our Community Health Worker (CHW) program. We currently have two CHW's partnering with a local homeless shelter, one CHW embedded in a hospital Emergency Room, and one who works primarily with Spanish Speaking Type 2 diabetics. We hope to recruit more CHW's in the coming months." What are some challenges your clinic has faced and how have you overcome these challenges? - "With therapy so hard to find in our region, especially for those without insurance, we were able to bring in our own full-time in-house therapist. Additionally, we have partnered with an area nonprofit who serves the black community, we connected them with a Black Trauma Therapist and wrote a grant to fund her work. These additions have been game changers for our little slice of the mental health world." |
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"When our clinic first opened in 2007 our primary goal was to give the working poor access to primary healthcare. As time passed, we knew we had to find a way to help children gain access to a dentist so we started a thrift shop to fund their dental care. That's when we realized we could help local residents who had gone through a fire, needed beds for their children, school bags, etc., so we started an outreach program.
We started the Teeth-for-life program to get a hygienist into school. The program expanded from Grant and Crawford Counties to Richland and Vernon, eventually gaining a second hygienist and serving 4,500 children. In 2010, we started an adult dental clinic that served 700 patients until its closing 5 years later when our dentist retired. At that point we were able to get our patients access to several Federally Qualified Health Clinics in our area and our focus outside of primary healthcare centered around hearing and vision care. Major changes: Most of the doctors who have volunteered for the clinic have been with us from the beginning, but we have had to go through many changes since COVID started in 2020. One of our doctors passed away, his wife who was also a volunteer, decided she didn't want to practice without her husband so she retired. Shortly afterwards another doctor had a stroke, and yet another had health issues and decided to retire as well. At that point we could no longer serve people in quite the same way, so we decided to continue serving people who had no available or affordable access to dental, hearing, and vision care and go to Telehealth services when needed. We also developed a referral system with local providers and expanded our services to two more counties after we found out the FQHCs have a several year waiting list in some cases. Another success has been our ability to test people for COVID. Our clinic is still testing and is now a State test site, [but] our greatest success are the lives we have changed and saved since we have opened our doors and the nearly 40 volunteers who have helped us since the beginning." |
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"Community Smiles Dental is honored to be a comprehensive dental home to children, special needs patients, pregnant women, and adults who have limited access to dental care due their insurance or income status. Through two state-of-the-art clinic locations, CSD is serving more than 4,400 unique patients per year and is projected to increase care to 6,000 total patients in 2022. Additional services include ongoing community education, in-school screenings and sealants, and an innovative medical-dental integration program, reaching hundreds of additional individuals each year."
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"MACH OneHealth's outreach embodies the street medicine approach "go to the people." We use the same places, same faces model; you can find us every Thursday night on State Street and around the Capitol Square in Madison. In 2021, we had 122 street medicine encounters. Pictured on the left are health care volunteers headed out for street rounds!"
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"The Sparta Chamber of Commerce recognized the St. Clare Health Mission of Monroe County as the "Not-for-Profit Organization of the Year" at the Chamber annual event on March 17th. The free medical clinic in Sparta, Wisconsin has served the Monroe County community for over 25 years. Founded by Dr. Patricia Raftery in 1996, the volunteer clinic provides free medical care and free prescription medications at the twice monthly evening clinics."
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"SAM25 Community Health Clinic opened in February 2022 to provide free basic healthcare for those in need in the Shawano area. The clinic is open every Thursday evening, staffed by area volunteer healthcare providers striving to improve the health of our community "
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What is one thing you want people to know about your clinic? - Vida is much more than a medical test! Through both our medical clinic and support services, we provide the support they may be lacking in their lives and with connections to programs and resources in our community. One-on-one labor and delivery and breastfeeding classes at Vida are taught by experienced labor and delivery nurses and a lactation counselor. They receive "Understanding Birth" and "Understanding Breastfeeding" books that include a companion web app! The app has helpful videos and information to help prepare for childbirth experience and successful breastfeeding information home to keep learning after the class and to share with their support team. VIDA offers STI testing and treatment to both men and women, as well as cervical cancer screening (pap tests) to women to serve the health needs of the community at large. Cervical cancer screening is lifesaving... Sexually transmitted infections are a contributing cause of infertility in women. By offering testing and treatment, we protect women’s health during the childbearing years and beyond... Vida offers pregnancy testing, ultrasounds, and pregnancy options information in a welcoming, supportive, and non-judgmental environment.
What successes has your clinic experienced? - We have developed a positive rapport with other medical clinics that refer their patients to Vida. Our patients give positive feedback about the care they receive at Vida. Being invited into many area schools and youth groups to give educational presentations also helps us reach thousands of our area’s youth every year. What are you excited for at your clinic? - It is exciting to seek out new and innovative services to better meet the needs of our patients. What are some challenges your clinic has faced and how have you overcome these challenges? - In the past, Vida was not visible enough for people in need of our services due to the challenges of advertising and marketing. Vida has enhanced strategic marketing, communications, and outreach in recent years. This helps ensure that individuals, families, and the communities who are in need of our free, confidential services are aware of them and receive the care they need. |
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"We [Neighborhood Free Health Clinic] ended 2021 having completed more annual appointments to those in need than ever before in the 13-year history of the NFHC. We gratefully acknowledge that this could not have happened without the supportive partnerships of Stoughton Health, Edgewood College faculty and students in both the College of Nursing and the Master’s Degree program in Marriage and Family Therapy, our generous donors, grantors, and especially our fantastic volunteers!"
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"The Rebalance-Life Wellness Association was awarded funding from the Equitable Recovery Grant. On February 9, 2022, Governor Tony Evers stopped by for the official check presentation."
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"We want people to know we serve low income children and adults in the South Central Wisconsin area, not just one county! Our services include dental and mental health care for both children and adults. We also work with adults to get them access to primary health care services. Our partnerships with many area school districts allow us to see children in their school which eliminates the need for them to travel elsewhere for these appointments."
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