Free clinic

A Free Clinic is a medical facility in the United States offering community healthcare on a free or low-cost basis, similar to Britain's NHS. Care is generally provided to persons who have lower or limited income and no health insurance, including persons who are not eligible for Medicaid or Medicare. Almost all free clinics provide care for acute, non-emergent conditions. Many also provide a full range of primary care (including preventive care) and care for chronic conditions. Some free clinics also have licensed pharmacies on site and/or offer dental services.

While Free Clinics have been around since before the 1960’s when free medical services were provided at homeless shelters, soup kitchens or disaster sites, the popular notion of a Free Clinic began in the 1960’s in San Francisco when Dr. David Smith founded the Haight Street Free Clinic in 1967 during the summer of love in the Haight Ashbury district. With nowhere to turn, young people found health care and support when traditional services turned their backs on them. Free Clinics quickly spread around the country opening in many major cities including Los Angeles. In 1972 a meeting was held at the Shoreham Hotel in Washington DC where clinic staff from around the country gathered and listened to speakers including founder David Smith. At this meeting the slogan “Health Care is a Right Not a Privilege” emerged as a theme.

During the 1970's and 80’s Free Clinics continued to evolve and change to meet the needs of their individual communities, however some were unable to survive. Each Free Clinic was unique in its development and services, based on the particular needs and resources of the local community. There is a saying among Free Clinic organizations that if you have been to one Free Clinic you have been to one Free Clinic. The common denominator is that care is made possible through the service of volunteers, the donation of goods and community support. Funding is generally donated on the local level and there is little—if any—government funding. Some Free Clinics were established to provide medical services in the inner cities while others opened in the suburbs and many student-run free clinics have emerged that serve the underserved as well as provide a medical training site for students in the health professions.

There eventually evolved a schism among clinics where some held fast to the idea that services should be provided free of charge to the patient while others felt that the services should be paid at least in part by the patient. This second group of clinics became know as community clinics and would offer services on some sort of sliding fee schedule based on the patients ability to pay. In the early 1970’s Ramparts Magazine said that in order to survive, Free Clinics would have to be equally active providing service as they are with the mimeograph machine. In other words, the service provided by the doctors was of equal importance to insuring that people have a right to health.

While both Free and Community Clinics provide many similar services, Free Clinics today are defined by the National Association of Free Clinics as “private, non-profit, community based organizations that provide medical, dental, pharmaceutical and/or mental health services at little or no cost to low-income, uninsured and underinsured people. They accomplish this through the use of volunteer health professionals and community volunteers, along with partnerships with other health providers.” Some Free Clinics rival local government health departments in size and scope of service with multi million dollar budgets, specialized clinics and numerous locations. Today, Free Clinics are growing in need and in voice as the healthcare crisis in America worsens.

Free clinics in the United States

 * Arlington Free Clinic in Arlington, Virginia
 * Beach Health Clinic in Virginia Beach, Virginia
 * Free Clinic of SW WA in Vancouver, Washington
 * Haight-Ashbury free clinic
 * Harrisonburg Rockingham Free Clinic
 * Los Angeles free clinic
 * Free clinics in New York city
 * Free Clinic of Greater Cleveland
 * EHHOP - Free Clinic in El Barrio, New York City
 * Berkeley Free Clinic
 * Free Clinic of Simi Valley
 * North By Northeast Community Health Center in Portland, Oregon


 * National Association of Free Clinics
 * AmeriCares Free Clinics in Connecticut - A Program of AmeriCares