Six nonprofit Forsyth County health-care providers, and 15 overall in the Triad, will receive funding from a nearly $2.6 million distribution related to state COVID-19 pandemic relief initiatives.
The beneficiaries are free and charitable clinics that provide primary care, behavioral, dental and other health care services to uninsured and underserved residents.
The Forsyth participants are Community Care Center, Crisis Control Ministry Pharmacy, DEAC Clinic, New Stories Health & Wellness Center, The Shalom Project, and Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist Mobile Health Clinic.
Allocations vary from clinic to clinic based on the number of patients they serve and the scope of services they provide, including COVID-related services such as treatment, testing and vaccinations.
The remaining Triad participants are: Community Clinic of High Point; Davidson Medical Ministries Clinic, Lexington; Free Clinic of Rockingham County, Reidsville; Grace Clinic, Elkin; Mustard Seed Community Health, Greensboro; Open Door Clinic of Alamance County, Burlington; and Surry Medical Ministries, Mount Airy.
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The funding is part of a $15 million appropriation approved by the General Assembly in 2021.
“For North Carolina’s uninsured working poor, this funding has meant the difference between access to high-quality health care and no health care at all,” said April Cook, chief executive of N.C. Association of Free & Charitable Clinics.
“We are grateful to our elected representatives — and to our donors who continue to support us — for recognizing the vital role free and charitable clinics play in our state’s health-care safety net.”
Clinics saw a surge of new patients at the height of the pandemic as people lost jobs and health insurance. The loss of volunteers forced clinics to hire paid staff to keep their doors open, significantly increasing operating costs.
Since 2020, the association has secured more than $27 million in COVID-19 relief for its 72 member clinics across the state.
Member clinics provide care for more than 80,000 patients in 85 counties, including primary and specialty medical care; dental care; pharmacy services; optometry; behavioral health care; lab tests and hospital referrals.
That includes providing COVID-19 testing and treatment and delivered more than 35,000 vaccines.
