Free clinic struggles to keep up

Johnny Sprouse walked out the single door of the Charlottesville Free Clinic clutching two bags of prescription medication. A lifelong resident of the area, Sprouse said the clinic is the best thing to happen to the community.

He has arthritis in his knees and high blood pressure, and found out this week that he is diabetic. He has dental insurance, but Sprouse said he has never been able to afford medical insurance.

“It’s just so darn expensive,” he said.

Sprouse has worked at the Holiday Inn on Emmet Street for more than 30 years and has been coming to the free clinic for at least 10, using it to get medical exams and free medication for his ailments. Now, possibly as a result of more people becoming unemployed, getting their work hours cut or taking low-wage jobs without benefits, many more are coming to the clinic to do what Sprouse has been doing for more than a decade.

“Every time I come in, there’s more,” Sprouse said of the number of patients he’s seen.

Erika Viccellio, the free clinic’s executive director, said the amount of new patients is staggering — and it is taking a toll on the clinic’s volunteers. Last year, from January to March the clinic saw 220 new patients. In the same period this year, the number jumped to 351.

“It’s crazy here,” she said.

Viccellio said that while she had noticed the upswing in new patients — the phones had been ringing more and patients were waiting longer for appointments and medication — she discovered the magnitude of the increase only as she worked on a report for the Virginia Association of Free Clinics, a group that represents 50 free clinics across the state, including Charlottesville’s.

Last year, Viccellio said, Charlottesville’s clinic saw a total of 2,079 patients, up from 1,641 the year before.

L.M. Markwith, the association’s executive director, said the same thing is happening across Virginia. In 2007, he said, the association’s member clinics saw around 61,000 patients, an 8.2 percent increase from the previous year. Last year, those same clinics had more than 76,500 patients.

“The demand is so great,” Markwith said. Markwith said he thinks that at a minimum, free clinics around the state will continue to be pressured through 2010.

The blessing for Charlottesville’s clinic, Viccellio said, is that it is run largely by volunteers. The clinic has about 400 volunteers now, 150 of whom are medical providers.

“But that also becomes the challenge when you see such a rapid increase in demand,” she said.

Elaine Kroner, a retired pharmacist who volunteers at the Charlottesville facility, said it depends how often each patient comes back to refill medications. But most of the people who frequent the center have chronic illnesses.

“It’s usually not just a one-time filling or seeing,” Kroner said.

Because more and more people are coming in, pharmacy assistant Lucas Fussell said staffers have been a bit slower in giving their patients medication. The clinic’s pharmacy tries to have a same-day turnaround with prescriptions, he said, but added, “The reality is sometimes it may take two or three days.”

The clinic will soon expand. Right now, it has about 1,400 square feet, not including its shared space with the Charlottesville-Albemarle Health Department, but after the expansion it will have more than 3,000 square feet.

But the additional room will not make up for the strapped resources. Viccellio said the clinic aims to add medical volunteers, such as doctors and pharmacists, so the providers can keep up with demand.

“It’s not an option to say it’s more than we can handle,” she said. “We’ve got to find a way to get it done.”