News From AmeriCares Free Clinics
Celebrating 10 Years of Community Service in Danbury
The AmeriCares Free Clinic of Danbury will celebrate its 10th anniversary in January, recognizing a decade of providing quality health care to Danbury's working poor. Since it opened in 1997, the AmeriCares Free Clinic of Danbury has provided health care services valued at nearly $6.5 million to more than 5,500 uninsured community residents.
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 nearly 200 volunteer doctors, nurses, non-medical volunteers and others, including specialists who see patients in their private offices at no charge.
The issue of the uninsured has become a national epidemic, and the need for health care services continues to grow. This year alone, the AmeriCares Free Clinic of Danbury treated more than 400 new patients. Anticipating this growing need, the clinic launched the Boehringer Ingelheim-AmeriCares Free Clinics Outreach Program late last year to provide free treatment to the working poor in the Greater Danbury communities of Bethel, Brookfield and New Milford. This mobile medical program was made possible due to a generous donation from the Boehringer Ingelheim Cares Foundation (BICF), a not-for-profit subsidiary of Boehringer Ingelheim Corporation in nearby Ridgefield.
In addition to the support of corporations and individual volunteers, the Danbury clinic receives significant contributions from other local organizations including Danbury Hospital, New Milford Hospital, Danbury Office of Physician Services, Danbury Radiology Associates, Northeast Radiology and the Danbury Housing Authority. The services provided by these partners allow the AmeriCares Free Clinic to help patients who cannot afford needed medical care because they lack health insurance. Delaying or not receiving treatment can lead to more serious illnesses and even hospitalization for conditions that could have been avoided had the patient received preventative care.
In recognition of its 10-year milestone, the AmeriCares Free Clinic of Danbury is hosting an anniversary celebration for staff, volunteers and donors at the Ives Manor Ballroom on Thursday, January 18, beginning with a clinic open house at 5:00 p.m. For more details, contact Deb Howard, community relations manager for the AmeriCares Free Clinics at 203-658-9651 or dhoward@americares.org.
