Free Clinic of Danville gets financial boost

By Susan Elzey, Danville Register & Bee
Published: February 1, 2008

Healthcare for the area’s uninsured got a much-needed boost when the Danville Regional Foundation awarded the Free Clinic of Danville a $1.4 million grant this morning.

The grant, which will be administered over a five-year period, will allow the clinic to stabilize its financial base and eventually become a model organization of providing medical care to low-income residents, Karl Stauber, executive director of the Danville Regional Foundation, said Friday at a press conference at the Free Clinic.

“This is the first grant under our new guidelines,” Stauber said, “and it is appropriate that it is for healthcare, which is what the Foundation is all about.”

The Foundation manages the $200 million made from the purchase of Danville Regional Medical Center by LifePoint Hospitals Inc. in 2005. The organization serves the areas of Danville, Pittsylvania County and Caswell County, N.C.

The Foundation’s grant to the Free Clinic will provide for the hiring of a full-time executive director, full-time nurse practitioner and full-time clinical director.

“The hiring of a full-time nurse practitioner will allow the clinic to see more patients faster,” Brent Saunders, president of the Free Clinic, said. “The grant will also allow for the formulation of long-term strategic goals.”

There were 3,100 patient visits to the clinic in 2007 and a six-month waiting list to see a doctor.

Stauber estimated there are between 17,000 and 30,000 people without health insurance in the area.

“There’s a tremendous need for the clinic in the community due to the vast number of uninsured people,” Saunders said.

For details on how the grant does not eliminate the need for continuing community support, read Saturday’s Register & Bee.