Charlottesville Free Clinic reaches 30 years of serving the community

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (WVIR) - The Charlottesville Free Clinic is marking 30 years of serving the community.

The clinic provides free services, including dental care and prescriptions, to uninsured and under-insured adults.

Executive Director Susan Sherman says the clinic opened to serve as a stopgap until universal health care was applied.

“Thirty years later, it’s not the law of land. So, there are still thousands of people that don’t have insurance that don’t have enough money to be able to pay for their own insurance or out-of-pocket medical expenses,” Sherman said.

Sherman says this hit close to home for her when she ran into an old friend who didn’t have health care through his employer.

“He said, ‘I thought you all were a unicorn. I didn’t think there was any way that Charlottesville would have a medical facility that would see somebody like me who doesn’t have insurance and who doesn’t make a lot of money,’” Sherman said. “We knew that if we shut down the most vulnerable of our community members were going to be left without medical care at the most dire time.”

The Charlottesville Free Clinic will schedule an appointment for anyone who does not have insurance, including Medicaid. After your first visit, the clinic takes an attestation regarding income level to confirm that you will continue to qualify for services. If you wind up not qualifying, it will help get you connected to the right provider. If you qualify for Medicaid but are not yet enrolled, the Charlottesville Free Clinic will help get you enrolled.

The Charlottesville Free Clinic is a nonprofit organization. If you would like to donate, the link is here.

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