Hospital opening free clinic

By FRANK PHILLIPS
frankphi@hotmail.com
St. Vincent Clay Hospital is opening a free community health clinic for people without health insurance.
Appointments are encouraged. Residents should call Michelle Arnold, 442-2741, for more information.
The clinic has grown out of community programs such as “Cover the Uninsured Week” and the “Poverty Experience,” according to Andrea Baysinger, RN, BSN, with the hospital.
“It is through these experiences and efforts that a common need was recognized ... the need for health care for the uninsured,” she wrote in a recent press release.
The hospital has established the community Health Access Worker position and the Medication Data System to enhance the hospital’s ability to serve those in need.
The free clinic is called the St. Vincent Oak Park Clinic because the original Clay County Hospital was built in 1928 on a wooded tract of land called Oak Park, Baysinger said.
Appointments are being made for the free clinic on Monday, Aug. 28, 8 a.m.-noon.
Patients age 18 and older will be treated. Proof of household income and identification are required.