The Free Clinic of Southwest Washington will host a breakfast fundraiser in honor of its co-founder, Dr. Sam Beall, and to commemorate the clinic's 25th year.
The breakfast will be Thu., April 23 at 7 a.m. at the Red Cross Building at Vancouver Barracks. The public is invited. Tickets are $25 per person.
"This is a benchmark year for the Free Clinic," said Executive Director Barbe West. "We were founded 25 years ago; the dental program started ten years ago; and we began coordinating free specialty care for people in need five years ago."
Since Dr. Beall (pronounced "bell") and Father Ed Rankin opened the original Community Health Center in 1990, with 10 volunteers providing free, urgent medical care one night a week, services have expanded significantly. Today, over 600 active volunteers provide care to low-income, uninsured and underinsured individuals, five days a week.
Besides urgent medical care, the Free Clinic offers urgent dental care for adults (by appointment) and preventive dental care for children. Vision and diabetes care, immunizations, sports physicals, prescription assistance, community resource navigation, and coordination of specialty care have been added over the years – all free to people who cannot otherwise access care.
"Our services help keep people in school, at work, and out of the emergency room," said West. "We depend completely on our volunteers to provide the care, and on donations and grants from individuals, businesses, foundations, and health systems in our community."
Tickets are still available for the Sam Beall Memorial Breakfast. Go to www.freeclinics.org to purchase online, or contact the development office at (360) 313-1388.
