Arlington Free Clinic

The Arlington Free Clinic is a nonprofit, community-based, volunteer-driven organization committed to providing access to quality health care services to low-income, uninsured county residents.

Why do we exist?

Over 18,000 residents of Arlington County live without health insurance. The Arlington Free Clinic is the only provider of free medical care to low-income, uninsured residents of Arlington County. The Arlington Free Clinic keeps low-income Arlington County residents healthy and able to work and care for their families. With Arlington Free Clinic’s comprehensive services patients are treated for minor acute needs to very serious chronic illnesses. The Arlington Free Clinic offers primary medical care, specialty medical care, Physical Therapy, Mental Health services, full Pharmacy services including medications and patient education classes for asthma, breast health, diabetes and osteoporosis.

Arlington Free Clinic is primarily a volunteer run organization supported by a small staff. More than 500 volunteers (including 160 doctors) provide medical care, coordinate clinics, provide interpretation services, assist with administrative tasks, and raise funds to support the programs. There are no paid physicians on staff. In FY2005, volunteers donated 15,000 hours of service to the Clinic. Our volunteers are our greatest asset and make our services to the uninsured possible.

A vital ingredient of comprehensive medical care is the medications our patients receive. Last year, over 19,000 prescriptions were dispensed from the Clinic’s licensed pharmacy.

What have you accomplished?

In 2005, Arlington Free Clinic treated over 1,450 individuals at over 6,900 medical appointments. Many of the Clinic’s patients suffer from chronic illnesses such as diabetes and hypertension, so they are seen frequently by our volunteer physicians. Volunteer physicians provide the following specialties in the Clinic setting: endocrinology, gastroenterology, gynecology, nephrology, rheumatology, psychiatry, optometry and podiatry. Patients with additional needs are referred to other specialists in their own offices, including surgeons, dermatologists, otolaryngologists, oncologists and neurologists.  

Arlington Free Clinic services include medical visits with physicians and nurse practitioners, case management, referrals to specialists, medications, lab and x-rays as prescribed. Virginia Hospital Center provides laboratory tests and most radiology services at no cost to AFC patients. The Clinic’s case manager seeks outside sources for tests and procedures such as CT scans and MRI’s. The needs of Free Clinic patients are frequently complicated and often urgent. A recent patient story demonstrates this:

Arlington Free Clinic Gave Marlene Another Chance At Life!

Her first response was disbelief; her second was fear.  Disbelief that, when practicing the breast self-exam techniques she had just learned in an education class at the Clinic, she found a lump.  And fear - not for herself - but for her husband and three children. She worried about how her husband could manage to care for the children and work the long hours demanded by his job if she wasn’t there.

But there was no denying what she had found. She came to the Clinic the very next day, in tears and fearing the worst.  AFC responded immediately, examined her, and referred her for a mammogram at Virginia Hospital Center. An AFC volunteer Radiologist saw suspicious areas on the mammogram. A biopsy was then performed by an AFC volunteer surgeon.   Marlene’s fears were confirmed. She was 39 and had aggressive and invasive breast cancer. 

Little did Marlene and her husband know just how comprehensive the care and treatment systems of the Arlington Free Clinic were and how many supportive and caring people would be involved in her care.  She had already been assigned to an AFC Nurse Manager and AFC Case Manager.  With the critical testing complete and the diagnosis determined, Marlene’s team counseled her and her husband about the doctors’ recommendations for treatment.  Marlene and Jorge elected to go forward with the recommendations. A mastectomy and reconstructive surgery were then performed by AFC volunteer physicians. 

Marlene’s care management team spent many hours with Marlene and Jorge explaining the treatment each step of the way.  Following surgery, Marlene was sent to an AFC volunteer oncologist for chemotherapy, and for radiation therapy with another AFC medical group.  During her treatment process, partner Virginia Hospital Center covered the cost of diagnostic testing and put Marlene and her family on a much reduced plan to pay for her hospitalizations and treatments. All of the physicians involved in Marlene’s care donated their services. All of the medicines that Marlene needed were provided through the AFC pharmacy.

“If it wasn’t for Arlington Free Clinic,” says Marlene, “I probably wouldn’t be alive today, and my children would be growing up without a mother. It’s important to look beyond the actual patient the Clinic is helping.  Look at the people behind the patient.  It’s not just me-it’s my husband and three children.  We’re all deeply grateful to the Clinic.” Marlene cannot give money to support the Clinic, but she gives back in another significant way. She is now a volunteer providing instruction in breast self-exam techniques.

A diagnosis of cancer is devastating for anyone.  But without medical insurance or financial reserves, people like Marlene would face the crisis without hope. Arlington Free Clinic gives that hope and so much more.

	How do you help people in my community?		Why do you need my support?
	How can I be sure that you will use my money wisely and won't waste it?		Can I Volunteer? How?