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Protecting America's Uninsured:
Midwestern Region
Note: Not all programs at each institution are listed. To find out about
more programs at each individual institution, please contact the person
listed for additional information.
Illinois
University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine
The Community Health Initiative
The Community Health Initiative organization operates two student-run
clinics in the Chicago area. The clinic at Maria Shelter, offers care
for women and children, while the Washington Park Children's Clinic specifically
serves infants and children. Both clinics provide uninsured outpatient
primary care, with the goal of linking patients and their families with
primary care providers through referrals to medical, dental, and eye services.
Medical services provided at the clinics range from well-child check-ups
to immunizations.
- Contact: University of Chicago Community Health Center, 773-702-1939
Friend Family Health Center (FFHC)
The Friend Family Health Center is a federally qualified health center
that offers a broad array of primary health care and social support services
to the south side community of Chicago. In addition to ensuring quality
services and continuity of care to the center's patient population, the
FFHC has several outreach programs. While FFHC is not a free clinic, we
do offer a sliding fee pay scale for those without insurance.
With more than 48,000 adult and children patients seen at the center
each year, the FFHC provides health care and social services to a wide
range of the uninsured population in Chicago.
- Contact: Administration 773-702-2193 or schedule an appointment 773-702-0660
Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago
Free Care Program
Funded entirely through philanthropy, the program provides rehabilitative
treatment and equipment to children and adults with physical disabilities
who are not able to pay for rehabilitative services. The program has specific
funding for children's prosthetic devices.
University of Illinois College of Medicine at Urbana
HeRMES Clinic
The HeRMES Clinic (Helping Revitalize Medical Education through Service)
is a student-run free clinic which operates in partnership with the Vermilion
Area Community Health Center. HeRMES was created to: 1) address the growing
population of medically uninsured patients in Vermilion County, and 2)
provide UICOM medical students with a greater exposure to ambulatory care
medicine, particularly working with underserved populations. While the
clinic has no formal affiliation with the University of Illinois College
of Medicine at Urbana, the clinic is staffed by UICOM-Urbana medical students
and faculty who volunteer their time. HeRMES is a registered student organization
of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
University of Illinois College of Medicine at Rockford
The college of medicine is a community-based medical school serving northwest
Illinois residents from Rockford. In addition to affiliations with all
three Rockford tertiary hospitals, college students also donate their
time to community clinics serving the uninsured, such as the Crusader
Clinic, which offers free obstetrical and gynecological services.
Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center, Rush Medical College -
Chicago, IL
Rush Community Service Initiatives Program
Formally established in 1991, the Rush Community Service Initiatives
Program (RCSIP) aims to create a thriving network of community service
programs that match student initiative with the social and health care
needs of the Chicago population. Some of these programs consist of:
Community Health Clinic
The Community Health Clinic is a non-profit organization that provides
free health care to members of the uninsured community. Rush medical students
and faculty offer primary and chronic care services one evening a week
to a mostly Latino community.
Pilsen Homeless Health Services
Dedicated to providing free health services to residents of the local
neighborhood, the Pilsen Homeless Health Services program serves the homeless
population and the working poor. Students and faculty provide free primary
and chronic care services and teams travel to homeless shelters monthly
to reach more community members.
Henry Horner and Casa Juan Diego Tutoring Programs
RCSIP students volunteer to tutor children in a public housing development
and in community agency the serves Latino youth. Weekly sessions include
time for homework, special activities and mentoring. Rush students provide
positive activities for a youth population that have limited access to
after-school programs.
Deborah's Place and Crane High School Health Education Programs
Students design and teach health promotion curricula to women in transitional
housing, as well as to seventh and eight grade students in an inner-city
school. Both of these programs serve low-income communities where access
to health education is limited.
- Contact: Claudia Baier, MPH, 312-942-8116
School-Based Health Centers
Working with the Chicago Public School systems and Cook County Hospital,
Rush supports three school-based health centers in underserved communities.
These centers provide primary, acute and chronic care services to children
and youth at their schools, encouraging healthy lifestyles and appropriate
access to care.
By providing care to children at school, these health centers help to
create linkages with external health and social services, maintain health
of children whose guardians may not have the ability to take them to other
clinics, and promote health at home via the children.
- Contact: Amy Valukas, MPH, 312-942-3579
Westhaven Community Outreach Programs
Community health workers, who have been trained and hired by Rush, provide
health education and case management services to families in public housing
developments. Focusing on asthma and women's health, the health workers
are able to locate families that do not access health care, build trust,
provide health information and help them through the complicated system
of reimbursement to receive services that are necessary, appropriate and
sensitive.
- Contact: Claudia Baier, MPH, 312-942-8116
Community Outreach Services
Rush offers a variety of services that provide health and educational
services to communities in-need. For example, faculty and students participate
in annual immunization and school physical events to prepare children
for the upcoming school year. Rush faculty and students also go to shelters
to provide specialty and primary care, flu shots and TB testing. Specialists
accept invitations to speak at community and school events, and family
practitioners go to parks and tunnels to care for the homeless. As these
services are temporary in nature, referral systems for on-going needs
are made available to participants.
- Contact: Claudia Baier, MPH, 312-942-8116
Memorial Medical Center
Central Counties Health Centers, Inc.
Central Counties Health Centers, Inc. (CCHC) provides quality, cost-effective
health and dental care to the community, especially where there is a shortage.
CCHC operates the Capitol Community Health Center, on the east side of
Springfield, Illinois.
Springfield's two hospitals, Memorial Medical Center and St. John's Hospital,
accept referrals from CCHC. Since 2003, CCHC has also provided healthcare
for the homeless through services at Salvation Army Citadel, Salvation
Army Adult Rehab Center, Contact Ministries, and St. John's Breadline.
CCHC also contracts with Complete Care Pharmacy to administer a drug pricing
program, and offers assistance to individuals seeking enrollment into
various pharmaceutical companies' patient assistance programs.
The creation of CCHC was supported by many local entities, including
HealthFirst Community Clinic, Memorial Medical Center, St. John's Hospital,
Southern Illinois University School of Medicine and other city, county,
state, federal and agency representatives. It has been in operation since
1999. Other CCHC community partners include the Sangamon County Department
of Public Health, the Illinois Department of Public Health, and Mental
Health Centers of Central Illinois.
- Contact: Donna Magelitz, 217-788-2311
Iowa
University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics
Indigent Patient Care Program
For more than eight decades, the Indigent Patient Care Program has provided
a way for uninsured and poor patients to receive medical care. Each of
Iowa's 99 counties may refer indigent patients to the University of Iowa
Hospitals and Clinics without charge to the patient or county. Individuals
authorized to receive services under the program are also eligible for
free transportation to and from the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics,
and quality for the care management and home telemedicine services, if
needed.
The University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics provide an extensive diagnostic
and therapeutic ambulatory care system to the uninsured and underinsured
Iowans under the Indigent Patient Care Program. All patients who participate
in the program not only receive quality health care, but free transportation,
eliminating one of the major barriers to indigent care.
Michigan
University of Michigan Medical School
Migrant Worker Health Clinic
Migrant workers receive primary and urgent care services on the DuRussel
Potato Farm in Manchester, several miles south of Chelsea. University
of Michigan Department of Family Medicine residents and faculty work voluntarily
in this unique setting, providing urgent and well child care, gynecology
and prenatal services, and acute, chronic and preventive care to adults.
- Contact: Migrant Worker Health Clinic, 734-998-7122
- Media Contact: Nicole Fawcett, Media Coordinator, 734-764-2220
Ann Arbor Homeless Clinic
The Ann Arbor Homeless Clinic is operated under the auspices of the
Ann Arbor Shelter Association. Faculty and resident physicians from the
departments of Family Medicine and Internal Medicine staff the clinic.
Medical and public health student volunteers provide clinical and clerical
assistance and gain valuable educational experiences as well. The department
is represented on a steering committee responsible for setting policy.
- Contact: Ann Arbor Homeless Clinic, 734-998-7122
- Media Contact: Nicole Fawcett, Media Coordinator, 734-764-2220
The Hope Clinic
The Hope Clinic is a free medical clinic providing care to the medically
indigent in Ann Arbor. The Department of Family Medicine at the University
of Michigan Health System offers significant support to the clinic.
- Contact: Hope Clinic, 734-481-0111
- Media Contact: Nicole Fawcett, Media Coordinator, 734-764-2220
The Corner Health Center
The Corner Health Center is an independent, nonprofit health and education
facility located in Ypsilanti, Mich., serving patients age 12 to 21 and
their children. The Corner was established in 1981 with the mission of
providing prenatal care and other crucial primary medical services to
the uninsured and underinsured youth of Washtenaw County. Clients are
seen for medical services regardless of their insurance status or ability
to pay.
Resident physicians from the Department of Family Medicine receive clinical
training at The Corner. They gain experience in the care of young families
and the integrated, multidisciplinary team management of psychosocially
based problems affecting the health and safety of low-income adolescents
and children, such as family violence, malnutrition and inadequate living
situations. In turn, these family physicians in training help to expand
the clinical capacity of The Corner Health Center.
- Contact: The Corner Health Center, 734-484-3600
- Media Contact: Nicole Fawcett, Media Coordinator, 734-764-2220
The Children's Advocacy Initiative at Mott
The mission of the Children's Advocacy Initiative at C. S. Mott Children's
Hospital at the University of Michigan Health System is to provide a persuasive
and influential voice for children who cannot advocate for themselves
while promoting policies and programs that improve children's health.
The Children's Advocacy Initiative raises awareness about the challenges
facing today's families and builds community support to create better
lives for children. One of its most significant issues is raising awareness
about child poverty and its consequences.
- Contact: Children's Advocacy Initiative, 734-615-5379
- Media Contact: Nicole Fawcett, Media Coordinator, 734-764-2220
New Hope Outreach Clinic
New Hope Outreach Clinic was created by New Hope Baptist Church and
the U-M Health System to offer health care services dedicated to meeting
the medical needs and respecting the cultural sensitivities of African
American older adults and their families. The clinic's primary mission
is to reach underserved African Americans but is open to all. A health
care team from the Geriatrics Center provides primary care services. The
clinic offers primary care, health screening, health education and referrals
for adults ages 55 and over. Primary care is provided by a nurse practitioner
who has a master's degree in nursing and special training in providing
health care to older adults. The nurse works with and under the supervision
of a physician.
- Contact: New Hope Outreach Clinic, 734-764-6831
- Media Contact: Nicole Fawcett, Media Coordinator, 734-764-2220
Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services
Washtenaw Community Health Organization serves residents with mental,
developmental and substance abuse problems regardless of their ability
to pay, but mainly focuses on Medicaid participants and uninsured or indigent
patients not eligible for Medicaid. The Department of Psychiatry at the
University of Michigan Health System provides mental health professionals
to this highly successful community program.
- Contact: WCHO, 734-544-3000
- Media Contact: Nicole Fawcett, Media Coordinator, 734-764-2220
Research
Researchers at the University of Michigan Medical School pursue outcomes
and health trends research on how uninsured or underinsured people fare
in the health care system. Some of the results have shown children without
insurance are not getting appropriate vision care, older adults with diabetes
struggle financially from prescription drug costs and people without insurance
are less likely to survive surgery to repair an aortic aneurysm. Faculty
continue to mine government and insurance data to pinpoint other examples
of how insurance status can affect health care delivery.
- Contact: Nicole Fawcett, Media Coordinator, 734-764-2220
Regional Alliance for Healthy Schools
This program operates six elementary and middle school-based health
centers within the community's public school systems. The clinics provide
routine physical exams, management of chronic illnesses, immunizations,
hearing and vision screenings, basic laboratory tests such as urinalysis
or rapid strep tests, and health education and counseling. Students and
their families can access all services throughout the school day for free.
The clinics are a partnership between the University of Michigan Health
System, the U-M School of Nursing and St. Joseph Mercy Health System.
- Contact: HealthPlace, 734-677-2708 or East Wellness Center, 734-714-1409
- Media Contact: Nicole Fawcett, Media Coordinator, 734-764-2220
Wayne State University
Breast and Cervical Cancer Control Program (BCCP)
Eligible women (between 40 and 64 years of age; low to moderate income;
no access to medical coverage from an HMO; prepaid management care plan
or Medicare Part B) can receive a number of services at nearly a dozen
medical and community centers throughout metropolitan Detroit. University
Family Physicians is a participating medical center. Services include:
clinical breast exam, mammogram, pap smear, pelvic exam, any necessary
follow-up tests including colposcopy, yearly appointments and other informational
materials.
- Contact: Tsveti Markova, M.D., 313-340-4300
- Media Contact: Steve Townsend,
313-577-1429
Community Health Institutes (CHI)
CHI provides integration of a full range of community-based services
with an emphasis on early intervention, disease prevention and community-oriented
primary care while building collaborative relationships between local
and regional providers. The program's mission is to acquire, share and
apply knowledge for the promotion of health and the prevention of disease.
CHI is also a partner in the "Voices of Detroit Initiative" (VODI). Funded
by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, VODI, is a collaborative partnership between
the Detroit's major non-profit health systems and the Detroit health Department
dedicated to improving access to care for the city's uninsured, underinsured,
and underserved.
Minnesota
University of Minnesota, Academic Health Center
Community-University Health Care Center/Variety Children's Clinic
Created in 1966, the Community-University Health Care Center/Variety
Children's Clinic has since expanded its mission from offering only primary
medical care, to a comprehensive array of outpatient dental and mental
health services for the uninsured and low income residents of Minneapolis
and the surrounding areas. In addition to health care services, the clinic
also offers twelve specialized outreach programs for the uninsured community,
including promoting maternity care in American Indian families and a culturally
specific sexual assault program for East African immigrants.
The CUHCC clinic acts as a critical safety net for Minneapolis and metro
areas residents who are unable to access basic health care services due
to socio-economic, linguistic and/or cultural barriers. Reflective of
the diversity of the neighboring communities, the clinic provides health
care services in seven languages: Hmong, Cambodian, Lao, Vietnamese, Somali,
Spanish and English.
Hennepin County Medical Center
Community LifeLine Project
The Community LifeLine Coalition in Hennepin County, Minnesota is a formal
collaboration led by Hennepin County Medical Center. The Coalition brings
the area's largest public teaching hospital together with neighborhood
clinics, the Minneapolis Health Department, and other partners, in efforts
to enhance the health status of vulnerable populations in Hennepin County
by assisting in locating primary health care homes, enrolling in appropriate
insurance programs, and reducing inappropriate emergency room visits.
The project is staffed primarily through multilingual, culturally diverse
community health workers who work with patients to assist in providing
documentation for program enrollment, following up on the referrals to
primary care settings, and addressing other basic activities which may
prevent the patient from establishing a timely and appropriate relationship
with the health care system.
Missouri
Saint Louis University
Open Door Health Clinic
Created and run by Saint Louis University medical students, the Open
Door Health Clinic provides physical exams, vaccinations and treatment
of chronic illnesses to inner city families. Run throughout the year on
Saturdays, the Open Door is the only community health clinic in the area
with weekend hours, making it convenient for working parents. Treating
20 to 30 patients a day, a special emphasis is placed on connecting patients
to existing medical services within the community.
Open Door Health Clinic offers free care, medication and support to anyone
who walks through the door. No insurance is necessary, and very little
paperwork required, making it a convenient and cost-ffective place for
the inner-city population to receive the health care maintenance they
need.
Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis
Student Organized Clinic Committee (SOCC)
Dedicated to providing free medical care to the uninsured and underinsured
community of the Forest Park Southeast Neighborhood, the Student Organized
Clinic Committee is a student run, fully equipped Saturday morning clinic.
Staffed by a physician and three teams of medical students, the clinic
performs medical exams and treatments. Vouchers are provided for those
who cannot afford needed prescriptions, and each patient is also seen
by a volunteer from the School of Social Work, in order to provide for
their mental as well as physical well being.
The SOCC is just one step in the Washington University Medical Center's
effort to revitalize and help the residents of the Forest Park Southeast
area. In addition to free and reduced cost medical care, the WUMC and
other community organizations are working together to improve housing,
employment opportunities, education and social and human services.
- Media contact: Nicole Vine, Coordinator of Media Relations, 314-286-0105
Ohio
University of Cincinnati College of Medicine
Urban Health Project
Devoting eight weeks during the summer, medical students from the University
of Cincinnati College of Medicine donate time to twenty-three local nonprofit
organizations. Participating in a wide range of clinics and centers, students
serve low-income and uninsured patients while gaining experience in a
social service atmosphere.
The organizations utilized throughout the Urban Health Project all service
low-income or uninsured patients, providing a wide range of services,
such as medical care and social services.
- Media Contact: April Meyers, 513-558-4519
Wright State University School of Medicine - Dayton, OH.
Alliance for Research in Community Health (ARCH): Department of Family
Medicine and Center for Healthy Communities
Established in 1998, the Alliance for Research in Community Health is
designed to increase population-based community participatory research
efforts partnering family medicine faculty and students with community
members interested in exploring questions related to better health. ARCH
employs one of the nation's first Community Health Research Advocates,
a person trained in outreach and community development as well as research
design who serves as a bridge between the university and the community.
- Contact: William N. Tindall, Ph.D., R.Ph., director, 937-775-1450
- Contact: Kate Cauley, Ph.D., director, 937-775-1114
- Media Contact: Judi Engle, M.A., director of public relations, 937-775-2951
Center for Healthy Communities: HealthLink Miami Valley Project
Established in 2000, the HealthLink Miami Valley project is a community-wide
coalition of health and human services providers dedicated to increasing
access to care and improving the quality of care for Dayton's population
of uninsured. Annually, the project contacts over 10,000 uninsured residents,
regularly enrolling 40 percent in public health programs like Medicaid.
The HealthLink Information Exchange provides a web based central repository
of data which currently houses a patient registry of health uninsured
with accompanying demographic and self-report services utilization data.
Providers from multiple sites can refer patients electronically and query
the system for eligibility data.
- Contact: Kate Cauley, Ph.D., Center for Healthy Communities director,
937-775-1114
- Richard Schuster, M.D., Division of Health Systems Management director,
937-285-5555
- Media Contact: Judi Engle, M.A., director of public relations, 937-775-2951
Center for Healthy Communities: Healthy Dayton Program
Modeled on the Healthy Ohio initiative aimed at increasing physical
activity and better nutrition, Healthy Dayton focuses on reducing obesity
and tobacco use and prevention and control programs throughout the community.
Establishing Take Off Zones this past year in over forty community sites,
the project monitored self-report weight loss and increased activity for
community members while providing health and nutritional materials through
print and audio/video media. Additionally Healthy Dayton provides public
health education programs, school lunch worker training, and is launching
a community-wide pedometer program for people 60 years of age and older.
- Contact: Kate Cauley, Ph.D., Center for Healthy Communities director,
937-775-114
- Media Contact: Judi Engle, M.A., director of public relations, 937-775-2951
Center for Healthy Communities: Kinship Navigator Program
Established in 1995, the Kinship Navigator Program is designed to provide
support to families where children are being cared for by grandparents
or other relatives. Kinship Navigators assist grandparents in navigating
the health and human services system, ensuring that children have access
to education, health care and housing. The Kinship Navigator program operates
a lending closet for school uniforms, books, furniture, car seats, etc.,
a day camp in the summer providing respite care for kinship caregivers,
a dual generational housing arrangement in partnership with the local
public housing authority, and enrolls eligible children in CHIP.
- Contact: Kate Cauley, Ph.D., Center for Healthy Communities director,
937-775-1114
- Media Contact: Judi Engle, M.A., director of public relations, 937-775-2951
Center for Healthy Communities: Midwest Health Professions Service
Learning Consortium
This six-state regional collaborative provides faculty development seminars
in service learning for health professions faculty and community agency
staff throughout Ohio, Kentucky, Illinois, Michigan, Pennsylvania and
West Virginia. Working with almost 100 higher education institutions,
the program trains over 1,000 faculty annually, provides mini grants for
curricular development in service learning, and establishes close to fifty
new community based clinical training opportunities each year, extending
the public health workforce. Health professions students involved in these
experiences demonstrate significant changes in their understanding of
community resources, sense of confidence about working with diverse patient
populations, and reported willingness to work in underserved communities
or in community services upon graduation.
- Contact: Kate Cauley, Ph.D., Center for Healthy Communities director,
937-775-1114
- Media Contact: Judi Engle, M.A., director of public relations, 937-775-2951
Reach Out of Montgomery County
Reach Out is a non-profit organization that provides free urgent care
and lab work two evenings a week as well as Saturday hours at five community
clinics. Using volunteer physicians, medical students, nurses, and other
health care professionals, the program provides routine PAP smears for
women, immunizations for children, and runs a pediatric clinic for children
to age 14. Family members also receive information about social service
resources and assistance with the application process to the Children's
Healthy Insurance Program. Begun as a collaborative effort of the Montgomery
County Medical Society, Combined Health District of Montgomery County
and Wright State's School of Medicine, Reach Out has provided access to
basic health care to thousands of patients who could not have otherwise
afforded it. Emergency department use has been reduced and many individuals
have been linked to a primary care doctor.
- Contact: Sharon Sherlock, R.N., executive director, 937-258-2000
- Media Contact: Judi Engle, M.A., director of public relations, 937-775-2951
West Dayton Area Health and Wellness Project
Established in 1996, the West Dayton Area Health and Wellness Project
provides free health screenings at churches on Dayton's West Side following
Sunday services. Groups of supervised medical students offer general health
assessments during Minority Health Month in April, and individuals with
abnormal blood pressure, cholesterol, or blood glucose are referred to
their own physicians or to pre-selected physicians willing to accept new
patients. The health checks encourage regular medical check-ups and each
participant receives written results and consultation. The program provides
preventive medical treatments to the uninsured and a valuable tool to
foster interaction among community residents, faculty, and students, encouraging
trusting relationships.
- Contact: Alonzo Patterson, III, M.D., assistant dean of student affairs,
937-775-2934
- Media Contact: Judi Engle, M.A., director of public relations, 937-775-2951
The Ohio State University Medical Center
Asian Health Initiative
A collaboration of The Ohio State University Medical Center and Asian
American Community Services, this clinic, provides medical services to
uninsured and underserved members of the Columbus Asian community.
YMCA Community Health Center
The Ohio State University Medical Center, along with the Columbus Health
Department, sponsors a center that provides supplies and the services
of a community health pediatric nurse practitioner 16 hours per week.
Latino Health Alliance/La Clinica Latina
A partnership of La Clinica Latina and The Ohio State University Medical
Center to provide free medical care to Latino/Hispanic residents of Central
Ohio.
Project LOVE
The Medical Center provides shared nurse coverage as part of the childhood
immunization project to increase the number of children receiving immunizations.
Wisconsin
Medical College of Wisconsin
Isaac Coggs Clinic for the Uninsured
Initiated and coordinated by medical students, the Isaac Coggs Community
Health Center offers free medical care to the uninsured and working poor
on Saturday mornings throughout the year. With over 200 volunteers, the
clinic is able to offer a wide range of medical services and patient care
services.
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