GOOD NEIGHBOR FREE MEDICAL CLINIC OF BEAUFORT

Our goal is to continue to provide high quality medical care to all eligible low-income, uninsured adults who seek the Clinic's services.  These services include primary care, limited non-surgical cardiology, gynecology and orthopedic care, referrals and limited co-pays for specialist visits, access to laboratory and other diagnostic tests, health education and spiritual support, as desired.

We continue to recruit additional volunteers to provide direct medical care, which will allow us to offer increased appointment hours.  To the extent possible, we schedule patient appointment hours at times when transportation is most available.  Late afternoon and early evening hours help to address this need.  We are fortunate to have volunteer providers who staff these late hours.  The Clinic is targeting outreach efforts to the very low-income, uninsured population we serve by advertising on local buses and radio stations.  Collaboration with food banks, health networks, and other local agencies help us reach the population we are trying to serve.  The Clinic is supported by many local faith communities that have taken responsibility to help spread the word about the Clinic's work.  Most importantly, we strive to deliver compassionate care to all of the Clinic's patients who help us with referrals to family and friends.

The Clinic has approximately 50 volunteers who make our work possible.  In 2018, medical volunteers provided 3,726 hours of patient care, and non-medical volunteers provided 2,705 hours of administrative and other support.  Without their dedicated and generous help, the Clinic's work would not be possible.  The Clinic is able to provide patients access to free laboratory and diagnostic tests through the generosity of Beaufort Memorial Hospital and free or very low-cost medications through the generosity of Welvista, pharmaceutical companies and local pharmacies.  The value of these benefits vastly exceed the Clinic's budget and make our work possible.  Financial support from Beaufort Memorial Hospital, foundations, nonprofit organizations, faith communities, government agencies, and individuals have provided the funds necessary to continue the Clinic's work.  Collaborating health and human services partners are also critical to the Clinic's ability to deliver quality care.  Local specialist physicians working through AccessHealth Lowcountry and Beaufort Memorial Hospital and collaborating physicians in Charleston have provided very low-co-pay specialty services for Clinic patients, allowing these patients to receive specialized care to address a specific need and then to return to the Clinic for ongoing primary care and to resume their usual activities.  We gratefully acknowledge the contributions of financial assistance and services donated to the Clinic, which help us achieve our goals and expand the services we are able to provide to patients.

We continue to serve all qualified patients who seek care at the Clinic.  All of the patient we serve receive all primary care and some specialty care, access to prescribed medications, access to ordered laboratory and diagnostic tests, health education and spiritual support (if desired), all without cost to the patient.  In 2018, we expanded coverage of co-pays for specialist services to cover procedures and visits for over 50 patients who received treatment that allowed them to return to their normal activities and continue receiving regular medical care at the Clinic. We have had considerable success in assisting patients who are ineligible for Clinic services to obtain a form of insurance for which they qualify.  In addition, we have had some success in delivering care that is correlated with reduced use of Emergency Room services following at least a year of care at the Clinic.