SUFFOLK, Va. — Free clinics across Virginia are seeing more patients than in years past, with fewer volunteers to handle the volume.
According to Virginia Free & Charitable Clinics (VAFCC) CEO Rufus Phillips, patient demand was up 11.5% from July 2023 to March 2024, compared to the same period the year prior. He says since the pandemic, the number of volunteers has fallen from 11,800 to 5,600.
“What we are seeing already is a waitlist for patients that’s growing so I think that waitlist would be growing even further," said Phillips.
Phillips says those two factors, plus Medicaid unwinding in Virginia in May of last year - leaving hundreds of thousands of people without insurance - have pushed more and more people to their clinics.
Kasey Winslow is a patient at Western Tidewater Free Clinic in Suffolk.
“It’s amazing, it really is, it’s a true blessing, especially when we did have Medicaid and it got cut off because we made too much,” said Winslow.
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VAFCC is requesting more money from the General Assembly to try to keep up with an influx of new patients. Phillips says those patients are mostly looking for dental and mental health care, which Phillips says was hard to get during the pandemic.
The free clinics haven't seen a significant increase since 2016. Their budget is currently $5.3 million annually, they're asking for $10 million.
“It just won’t be sustainable for the clinics if they don’t get the additional funding to meet the increased demand they simply won’t be able to,” said Phillips.
The General Assembly will be meeting for a special session next week.
