Located at YWCA New Hampshire in downtown Manchester, VIM-NH’s first free mobile clinic will initially operate on a part-time basis (two, 3-hour evening clinics per month). The clinic’s scope of medical services will include outpatient primary and urgent care for children and adults.
“We will also link patients to community resources and, ultimately, connect them with a medical home for primary care,” explained Johnson, who said the clinic will be staffed by medical and nonmedical volunteers. “We are following a proven service delivery model developed by Volunteers in Medicine America, which is providing guidance as we launch this clinic.”
According to Johnson, VIM-NH will reduce major barriers that prevent adequate access to healthcare in New Hampshire. Citing several studies, she said these barriers include lack of insurance, high cost of obtaining insurance, transportation to medical appointments and prohibitive cost of medications, co-pays and deductibles.
“Patients with issues accessing healthcare will be welcome, free of charge,” she stated. “For those who need assistance paying for medications, we will provide prescription vouchers.”
She said VIM-NH’s convenient location will allow patients to walk or access public transportation. “Our framework is based on the Hampton Free Clinic, which operated on the Seacoast of New Hampshire for several decades,” she added. “As this legacy lives on, healthcare providers remain interested in volunteering to care for the underserved.”
This legacy recently received a significant boost, as VIM-NH was awarded a Family Medicine Cares USA new clinic grant award of $21,609 from American Academy of Family Physicians Foundation to support its first year in operation. “This grant will enable us to cover medical equipment and supplies in the first year,” explained Johnson.
She said the cost to operate the clinic in its first year will be approximately $63,000. “We expect to see hundreds of underserved people of all ages who would have gone without care,” she said.
According to Johnson, costs in subsequent years will be far less. “Once the concept is proven in Manchester, the long-term goal is to find other community collaborators in the state and open up more clinics,” she said.
Volunteers in Medicine of New Hampshire (VIM-NH) is a 501(c) 3 non-profit mobile clinic that operates in partnership with community organizations to provide free health care to the uninsured and underinsured.