News From AmeriCares Free Clinics

Rite Aid, Right Supplies

Staff photo

Nurse Claire Kirby treating a patient at the Danbury clinic

Thanks to a $2,500 donation of Rite Aid gift cards, AmeriCares Free Clinics can tailor their inventory to patients’ needs.

AmeriCares operates three clinics in Connecticut that provide free health care to low-income residents without health insurance. Rite Aid has more than 5,000 drug stores nationwide, including stores near AmeriCares clinics in Bridgeport, Norwalk and Danbury.

At the Bridgeport clinic, where many clients have vitamin D deficiencies, Director Camille Weis uses the gift cards to purchase supplements. So many patients are lacking in vitamin D, which can lead to muscle and bone weakness and other ailments, that she can’t keep enough on hand to meet demand.

“They really have come in handy,” Weis said of the gift cards. “What’s nice about the cards is that you hold onto them until you need to buy something very specific to a patient’s needs.”

Many of the items purchased with the gift cards are not part of the regular clinic inventory, such as lithium batteries for glucometers diabetic patients use to measure their blood sugar.

Weis recently used a Rite Aid gift card to purchase Ensure for a patient rapidly losing weight because of chemotherapy treatments. Next, Weis plans to use the gift cards to buy calorie counting booklets for obese patients trying to manage their weight.

“I really like the flexibility,” she said.

The cards are used by clinic staff only and are not given to patients.

Having the cards on hand also allows staff the convenience of going to the nearest Rite Aid store to restock over-the-counter medicines and supplies as soon as they run out. Employees have used them to purchase aspirin, hydrogen peroxide, antifungal creams and other clinic staples.

The cards were a gift from the Rite Aid Foundation, the charitable arm of the Pennsylvania-based drug store chain. The foundation also gave AmeriCares Free Clinics a cash donation of $2,500, bringing the total value of its contribution to $5,000.

Since the clinics accept no federal funding, donations of cash and products are vital to their operations. Since 1994, AmeriCares Free Clinics have delivered nearly $21 million worth of medical services to 16,000 uninsured patients.

Rite Aid Foundation is one of 42 donors supporting AmeriCares free clinics. To see a complete list of donors click here.