Survey Suggests Free Clinics are Here to Stay

A new survey of the nation’s free clinics – the first of its kind in over forty years – suggests that free clinics are facing an increasing demand for services, particularly among the uninsured, while utilizing a mostly volunteer staff of physicians and nurses and little to no government funding. According to the survey, free clinic patients, over 90% of whom are uninsured, waited an average of 12 days before receiving treatment for their illness or condition. Dr. Julie Darnell, the author of the study, feels that these results challenge the belief that free clinics will no longer be necessary once health reform is fully implemented.

Click here to read Dr. Darnell’s survey.