Free Clinic of Powhatan

Until 2007, Powhatan was one of the only counties of its population in Virginia that had no safety net provider of free medical services to low-income, uninsured people. Through volunteer efforts that same year, the Free Clinic of Powhatan opened in a mobile facility at the Powhatan Fairgrounds.Pre-pandemic, nearly half of our patients were employed or retired. They are the working poor or the elderly living on fixed social security payments in an environment of rising health care costs. Many of our patients continue to struggle financially and lead stressful lives. Recently, many of the employed have now lost their incomes. Although Medicaid expansion occurred, not all uninsured patients are eligible for Medicaid. The threshold of eligibility leaves out the working poor and many others. There are many people who make more than the allowed salary but not enough to make ends meet. Some of our patients do not qualify for the Affordable Care Act (ACA) or if they do, may be unable to afford the premiums, co-pays, or deductibles.

The most frequent diagnoses are depression/anxiety, hypertension, post-traumatic stress, diabetes, dental and vision problems. In 2010, we began a partnership with Access Now, a program established by the Richmond Academy of Medicine to link patients in need with donated specialty physician services. This enables our Clinic to connect patients with the proper specialists and prescribe them the life-changing and life-saving medications they need.

In 2010, we also started our women’s health program. We then began a partnership with Goochland Cares and VCU to expand the dental program to include fillings, extractions, and dentures, with the Free Clinic of Powhatan reimbursing Goochland Cares. Unfortunately, our dental needs have grown, and Goochland Cares is no longer able to serve our patients.
We expanded our service area to include eligible residents in Amelia, Chesterfield, and Cumberland counties, which are counties that surround Powhatan and do not have free clinics. (Chesterfield did have a program, but it closed several years ago). We also created a counseling program with Powhatan High School for which we provide a psychiatrist and counselor at the school. We are the only free clinic in the Richmond area to provide such help in a high school and we are particularly proud to have kept this program going through the pandemic. This very successful program will be replicated in other county schools.Our patients see the Clinic as their medical home. We encourage them to see us for annual check-ups, medication monitoring, and lab tests. Many of our patients return to work or are able to work more hours. They can buy groceries again, pay their taxes, and contribute to our economy in other ways.
Without regular health care, patients become sicker and their care becomes more costly. The chance of a negative outcome is higher. What might have been a routine visit to the Clinic can becomes a visit to an emergency room, the most expensive place to seek treatment. Lack of regular health care may create a community health hazard or increase overall health care costs to taxpayers.