Tennessee
Beersheba Springs Medical Clinic
Overview:
- Non-profit, 501(c)(3) medical clinic founded in 2010, offering no-cost medical care to local residents
- Part-time staff includes an Executive Director, two Nurse Practitioners, a Medical Assistant, and an Office Manager
- Physicians and Nurses volunteer
- There are around 2,000 patient encounters each year
- The clinic is open for walk-ins and scheduled appointments
- The majority of patients are uninsured
- Donations from patients make up 11% of the annual budget
- The clinic serves both as an urgent care center and a primary care clinic
- For many patients, BSMC is the only affordable option for medical care
The clinic has a substantial pharmacy on-site:
- Medications are bought wholesale and obtained as donations from individual pharmaceutical companies and from a group called AmeriCares, which gives free meds that are near their expiration date
- All medications are provided free of charge
- Most medications, or a reasonable alternative, are available
- Prescriptions are written if need be
Resident experience:
- Because of volunteers from Erlanger and St. Thomas, BSMC was able to open for a third day each week for the first time in its history
- Residents accompany attendings from their home institution
- Internal Medicine residents from Yale will come to Grundy County for a minimum of a four week rotation, with the majority of their clinical time at BSMC