Press Release
October 12, 2005
CONTACT:AMERICARES
Ashley Cross: 203-658-9579
Beth Walsh: 203-658-9578
AmeriCares Free Clinic of Bridgeport Resumes Local Service
STAMFORD, CT, October 12, 2005 - The AmeriCares Free Clinics mobile health unit has resumed its regular hours in Bridgeport after spending a month in New Orleans, Louisiana providing healthcare services for persons displaced by Hurricane Katrina.
The AmeriCares Free Clinic of Bridgeport holds sessions on Tuesdays from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 12 a.m. at the Newfield Library at 1230 Stratford Avenue. The clinic also operates on Thursdays from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the United Congregational Church at 877 Park Avenue.
"We are proud to have made a contribution to the Hurricane Katrina relief effort," said executive director of AmeriCares Free Clinics, Karen Gottlieb. "We are even more grateful for the understanding of our regular, local patients who supported our need to respond, and for St. Vincent's Family Care Center who maintained our regular clinic sessions."
In New Orleans, the mobile clinic treated newly returned residents, first responders and those working to clean up the city. The mobile unit was staffed with doctors from Louisiana State University and Tulane University, and assisted by volunteer nurses and the nursing staff of the AmeriCares Free Clinics. Some of the patients treated at the clinic were coping with chronic health problems such as diabetes at the same time they had lost jobs and homes as a result of the hurricane.
AmeriCares Free Clinics patients who have questions about scheduling appointments can call 1-888-736-3435.
AmeriCares Free Clinics' mission is to provide free primary care to uninsured residents in Fairfield County. Since 1994, the clinics have provided more than $12 million in quality healthcare services at clinic locations in Bridgeport, Norwalk and Danbury.
AmeriCares Free Clinics is an AmeriCares program. The non-profit international disaster relief and humanitarian aid organization AmeriCares has sent aid valued at more than $5 million to those affected by Hurricane Katrina in Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. An AmeriCares emergency response team is in Louisiana, coordinating relief efforts at the local level.
To support AmeriCares hurricane relief efforts, log onto www.americares.org or call AmeriCares directly at 1-800-486-HELP (4357).
