- History of the Charlottesville Free Clinic
While doing their residency at the UVa Medical Center, two friends, Dr. Mohan Nadkarni and Dr. Paul DeMarco, saw the need to help patients without health insurance who were shut out from the health care system and decided to do something about it. In September 1991, with tremendous support from the community, the Charlottesville Free Clinic was legally incorporated as a 501(c) 3 charitable organization. By April 1992, the Free Clinic found its first home in space donated by Centel in the former MacGregor Motors building. The space was redesigned and remodeled for free by an architect, area contractors and suppliers. Five months later, on September 17, 1992, the clinic opened its doors.
Three years, later when the clinic needed a new home, it moved temporarily to Blue Ridge Hospital while it negotiated with the Thomas Jefferson Health District about adding on to and sharing its building on Rose Hill Drive. The agreed upon arrangement is that the Free Clinic would have its own administrative space and use the Health Department's waiting rooms, exams rooms, lab and dental suite during the evening. With the support of the Health District and the Free Clinic Board, sufficient donations were raised to add a wing onto to the Health Department building to house the Free Clinic's administrative offices. Construction began in September 1996.
The Free Clinic celebrated its 15th anniversary in September 2007. Since our founding, the CFC has treated more than 11,000 patients with over 45,000 visits and dispensed more than 145,000 free prescriptions. We've added a dental clinic, increased our referral network, added a medical professional to our staff and expanded our pharmacy services. The Free Clinic has become a vital health care resource for working uninsured people in our community and will continue to look for ways to better serve our patients and the community.