Facts About Arlington Free Clinic and Virginia Free Clinics

What is Arlington Free Clinic?

AFC is a private, nonprofit, community-based organization that provides medical care at no charge to low-income, uninsured persons utilizing volunteers and partnering with other health providers.
Number of Unduplicated Patients treated in FY09 = 1,614
 
Numbers of Medical Visits

In FY09, AFC provided 9,229 patient visits, including primary care, specialty care, acute care, mental health, physical therapy, and patient education.

Value of Service

Total program services provided by AFC in FY09 were valued at over $3.8M.
Top Ten Patient Reported Reasons for Appointments

1. GYN
2. Musculoskeletal
3. Hypertension
4.Gastroenterology
5. Diabetes
6. Cardiovascular
7. Mental Health
8. Dermatology
9. ENT
10. Respiratory

Prescription Services

AFC operates its own small licensed pharmacy. Two part-time staff pharmacists and over two-dozen pharmacy volunteers dispensed almost 15,000 prescriptions worth over $1,6M in FY09.

Volunteers at AFC

Over 560 people currently volunteer at AFC. These include 270 medical professionals, 170 are physicians. Last year volunteers provided over 15,755 hours of volunteer service worth over $816,209.

Community Partners

Our Community Partners provided incredible medical care; diagnostic testing and special services in FY09. Of note is Virginia Hospital Center's provision of lab and x-ray services valued at $846,253. Special services were also provided through other groups including Advanced Plastic Surgery Center; Arlington ENT; Arlington Podiatry Center;  Arlington Musculoskeletal Center; Arlington Women’s Center; Arlington Palliative Care, PLC; Dr. Ricardo M. Bennett & Associates; Joseph Buchino, MD & Associates; The Cardiovascular Group; Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery Associates; Commonwealth Orthopaedic and Rehabilitation; Dermatology Associates of McLean; Dominion Anesthesia; Diagnostic Health Corporation; J. Jeffrey Elliott, MD; Fairfax Northern Virginia Hematology Oncology; Fairfax Radiological Consultants; Glen fuchs, M.D., P.C.; Gastroenterology Center of Northern Virginia; General Internal Medicine Group; Herbert S. Golomb, MD; Insight Imaging Center of Arlington; Lions Eye Clinic; Bayani Manalo, MD; Medical College of Virginia; Metropolitan Surgical Associates; Nirschl Orthopedic Center for Sports Medicine; National Institute of Health – Cardiovascular Services and Clinical Parasitology Unit & Liver Center;  Northern Virginia Gastrointestinal Associates LTD; Northern Virginia Hearing Center; Northern Virginia Neurological Associates; Northern Virginia Radiology Consultants; Kathleen Price, M.D.; Pulmonary and Medical Associates of Northern Virginia, LTD; Skin Cancer Surgery Center; Dr. Christopher Renner, OD; University of Virginia Health System;  Virginia Hospital Center-Radiation Oncology;  Washington Colorectal Surgery; Washington Hospital Center; Washington Radiology Associates; Washington Urology; and through the Sharon McGowan Breast Health Fund and Colorectal Memorial Fund.

Patients

AFC patients represent many cultures. In Arlington County, 20% of the population is Hispanic. Hispanics are four times more likely to be uninsured than non-Hispanic Whites or Blacks. Almost half of all Hispanic households have someone without insurance. At AFC, 90% of our patients are non-native speakers, 60% are Latino, while 15% are African and Middle Eastern.
Seventy five percent of AFC patients have one or more chronic diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, asthma, cancer, arthritis, thyroid dysfunction and/or obesity. About 70% of patients are female. All AFC patients have total family incomes at or below 200% of the Federal Poverty Level which is approximately $42,400 for a family of four.

The Uninsured

Arlington is one of the most densely populated jurisdictions in the U.S. The most recent study done in 2005 showed that 23,000 Arlingtonians are uninsured. Additionally, there are approximately 475,000 uninsured Virginia adults (19 and older) with incomes at or below 200% of the Federal Poverty level. These are the people most likely to seek the services of a Free Clinic when the need arises.

Free Clinics in Virginia
Virginia has 50 Free Clinics with 61 clinic sites serving 14 cities and counties. In the U.S., only. North Carolina has more Free Clinics than Virginia. Virginia is the home of the first Association of Free Clinics in the US.
A National Association of Free Clinics was established in 2002.