The process of starting a free clinic can be challenging, exciting, and a daunting exercise. Several organizations are coming up with new ways to deliver affordable health care to those who cannot afford insurance covers and the low-income residents in their respective localities. There are several free clinic programs across the countries that have supported the uninsured by a great deal. Some of the free clinic programs have a small number of staff members who in most cases volunteer to support the local communities in which they are operating. The free clinic program can be started by a non-governmental organization, a group of volunteers, or any organization that is willing to support the members of its local community and promote the well-being of its business by engaging in social corporate activities (Goldin, 2002). The paper provides a discussion on the process required to start a free clinic program by an organization and the benefits of initiating such program to the community.
An organization can employ different steps that it feels suits best and accommodate well all the expected activities in line with its core values and service provision. Assuming the decision to start a free clinic program has been approved, the first step will be to build a strong and a dedicated team. The team should include all the people and the relevant program stakeholders (Harris, 2010). Team building begins with the process of recruiting a board of directors who have relevant knowledge, skills, and experience in provision of public health services, and programs. It is recommended to have a physician as the general director for the medical activity (Brennan, 2013). Other members with experience in community and public health programs can be part of the team of board of directors. The process of building a team also requires the development of various subcommittees to tackle the program’s specific goals and objectives. Each subcommittee will be assigned different roles to perform and they should deliver after a certain period of time.
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The next step in the process of starting a free clinic will be to assess the needs of the local community. The board of directors and the relevant stakeholders will take part in identifying the target population, their culture, and even their socioeconomic status. This can be done by conducting a survey or carrying out a consultation exercise with the local federal administration agency. Similarly, the exercise can also be done by consulting various neighborhood associations, social and healthcare workers, clergy personnel, and local nurses and doctors. Secondly, the free clinic program team should identify the healthcare needs of the target population (Goldin, 2002). The needs that should be identified include dental, medical needs, mental health, hearing and vision screening, and prescription assistance.
The next step in the planning process is to identify the current health services in the local community area. The relevant teams should be involved in determining the kind and type of health services provided by other organizations to the target community. This is to avoid overlapping services that are already offered free by other organizations (Brennan, 2013). Secondly, the relevant team should identify if there are other free clinics, and other private practices seeing the uninsured. The objective is to determine the level of need required in proportion of the services available.
The next step is to network. Networking is involves knowing the local health practitioners so as to obtain information from them regarding such as project. Networking can be done by visiting the local free clinic and health centers, and private practices that are employing the model with the free clinic program is going to use. Secondly, the local hospitals and the various medical practices expected to provide clinical laboratory testing, radiology services should be contacted (Goldin, 2002). In addition, the team should make use of free clinic resources locally available and also those in the National Association of Free Clinics.
The next step is plan the financing activities of the program. While the free clinic program will be financially supported by the organization, it is also significant to look to the local community for a sustained contributions for the program. The finance subcommittee team should develop a detailed finance budget and a plan for supporting the program (Goldin, 2002).
Finally, the team will identify the legal issues involved before starting the free clinic program. This is because, the law defines that a free clinic needs to be identified as a nonprofit organization for it to apply for funding and grants. In some cases, a license might be required to get donations from charitable organizations (Harris, 2010).
The free clinic will benefit the local community in several ways. It will enable those who are not insured to access health services so as they can lead a healthy lifestyle. Various health services such as dental, medical, vision and hearing services will improve the health of the local community. Similarly, people will receive vaccination on various ailments that may threaten their health. In addition, the free clinic will benefit the community by giving free health advice on matters related to body health, fertility, how to avoid chronic diseases such as cancer, diabetes and heart related ailments (Harris, 2010).
In a nutshell, the paper has provided a discussion on the process required to start a free clinic program by an organization and the benefits of initiating such program to the community. The process requires the team begins with building the required team, assessing the needs of the community, identification of current similar services offered in the local community, networking, financing and consideration of legal issues. The free clinic also will provide many benefits for the uninsured in the community.
