Jeanie Schmidt Free Clinic
WISH LIST: $100: necessary physicals for 5 schoolchildren; $500: 1 year of life-saving treatments and medications for a patient with diabetes; $20,000: half day clinic to serve 200 patients a year
The Jeanie Schmidt Free Clinic serves those who have nowhere else to turn: more than 46,000 residents of Fairfax County live below the poverty line and 82,000 have no health insurance. So the Clinic fills the gap, providing a “medical home” for those in need. Children come to see a doctor for the first time in years (if they have ever seen one at all). Chronically ill adults come to manage their diabetes and hypertension, and possibly avoid a health crisis. Both clinics are by appointment only. In between, patients receive medications, visit the optometrist, receive care from a dentist, and attend diagnostic screenings. But the Clinic receives 3 to 5 calls for every available opening. With medical professionals donating their time, and medicines acquired for free, only $20,000 is required for each half day of clinical services. Last year 139 community volunteers – nurses, nurse practitioners, and physicians – gave over 1,300 hours of their time to see patients. Perhaps you will want to give something too, and keep those doors open.
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