Partner in Profile

 

 

 

Governor Jodi Rell, center, with J. Martin Carroll, President and CEO, Boehringer Ingelheim, right, and Curt Welling, AmeriCares CEO, at the launch of the Boehringer Ingelheim-AmeriCares Free Clinics Outreach Program

The AmeriCares Free Clinics, in partnership with Boehringer Ingelheim, has announced the launch of a new program, the Boehringer Ingelheim-AmeriCares Free Clinics Outreach Program, which will provide uninsured residents of the Greater Danbury, Connecticut area, with increased access to free, quality medical care.

Connecticut Governor M. Jodi Rell joined AmeriCares and Boehringer Ingelheim employees for the launch of the program, which was celebrated on November 29 in Danbury. Thanking Boehringer Ingelheim for its "wonderful gift to the Greater Danbury area," Governor Rell also recognized the hundreds of volunteers who work at the AmeriCares Free Clinics. "It is you who make these clinics possible. You are the people who inspire us," she said.

The new Outreach Program will utilize the AmeriCares mobile medical clinic, which will travel weekly to locations in New Milford, Brookfield and Bethel to provide medical treatment to the uninsured working poor. The grant will also support a six-hour clinic session at the Danbury Clinic's Main Street location.

The program is being funded by a $750,000 grant from the Boehringer Ingelheim Cares Foundation (BICF), a 501 (c)(3) not-for-profit subsidiary of Boehringer Ingelheim Corporation, based in Ridgefield, Connecticut. This grant will support the program's operating costs for a five-year period.

"This is the largest grant ever received by AmeriCares Free Clinics and it enables us to launch a vitally needed program," said Karen Gottlieb, executive director of AmeriCares Free Clinics. "We sincerely thank Boehringer Ingelheim and hope that their example will serve as a model to other corporations who are striving to improve healthcare in their own local communities."

Since it opened in 1997, the AmeriCares Free Clinic of Danbury has provided health care services valued at more than $5.5 million to nearly 5,000 community residents. The clinic now boasts approximately 2,600 patient visits each year, and this year alone, treated more than 350 new patients. The clinic offers general adult medical services as well as specialty clinics for patients with multiple chronic medical conditions. These services are made possible by the generous work of more than 100 volunteer doctors, nurses, non-medical volunteers and others, including specialists who see patients in their private offices at no charge.

The clinic also receives significant support from other organizations within Danbury. The Danbury Hospital, Danbury Office of Physicians and Danbury Radiology Associates generously offer diagnostic services and specialty care at no charge to the clinic patients. The Danbury Housing Authority provides rent-free space, allowing the clinic’s main site to operate out of a comfortable 2,000 square foot space. Specialty medical groups in the community see patients in consultation. Together, these partnerships allow the clinic to provide services to patients who cannot afford needed medical care because they lack health insurance.