West Virgnia Free Clinics

The Eastern Panhandle Free Clinic recently announced it is no longer accepting new patients. The clinic is one of ten across West Virginia that’s struggling to give health care to more people with fewer resources. The clinic is one of ten across West Virginia that’s struggling to give health care to more people with fewer resources.

The director of the Eastern Panhandle Free Clinic, Michelle Goldman, says the decision not to take new patients was a difficult one. “When we looked at our schedule we realized that it’s getting really difficult to get our existing patients back in for appointment and that we just didn’t even have appointments available for people that were sick,” Michelle Goldman, director, said.

Goldman, Michelle Goldman said the fact that it's flu season and a time of year when people develop a lot of respiratory problems means more existing patients will need appointments. “And we feel like in order to continue to give the good and excellent care that we’re able to give that we need to be able to take care of our patients that we have existing already,” Goldman said. Goldman estimates the free clinic has added about 1,000 new patients in the past year in part because it moved to a larger facility.

The clinic will be able to accept new patients again after it hires a nurse practitioner. Until then, the clinic will keep a waiting list and only take new patients referred from the hospital who have chronic conditions. The growth at the Eastern Panhandle clinic is mirrored across the state. Linda West, executive director of the West Virginia Association of Free Clinics, said patient load at the state’s ten clinics increased by about 5,000 people in the past year and waiting lists are not unusual.

“For example Milan Puskar which is up in Morgantown is still accepting new patients but they have about 200 to 300 on a waiting list and they’re filling the slots as they come available,” West said. “As appointments open up they’re putting people in.” West Virginia Health Right in Charleston is the oldest and largest free clinic in the state. It serves almost 19,000 people and Pat White, executive director, estimated there’s been a 15 percent increase in the number of patients over the past year.

White said Health Right has stopped taking some new patients as well. “We have lots of specialists that volunteer with us and because of the increased number of patients that we’re serving right now we have taken up all of our specialist slots because we need, just like the Eastern Panhandle we need to recruit more volunteers in order to serve this increased growth of patients that we have,” White said. Free clinics nationally have seen an increase in patients in the past two years and the trend holds true in West Virginia.

West says in fiscal year 2009 the state’s free clinics provided estimated of $60 million worth of care to about 55,000 people. The clinics serve adults who don’t have health insurance and aren’t eligible for federal help through Medicaid and Medicare. The clinics depend on grants and donations in an economy that makes raising money difficult. “So it’s kind of hitting us on both ends,” West said.

“There’s a greater need out there, and on the other end of the spectrum there’s not as much money flowing into the free clinic because of the economic situation.” And the economy is bringing a different kind of patient to the free clinics. “We have patients that are coming to us that have had insurance up until maybe 12 months ago,” White said. “And they’ve lost their job and then they’ve lost their insurance.” “And these are people that may be highly educated but now they’re in a low wage position out of necessity,” White said the clinics are also seeing more people whose employers have cut insurance benefits to save money.