Blog
Stories of Impact: Mike's
Hear how Mike found his long-term healthcare home at his local free clinic.
Mike was employed at a landscaping company where he worked outside six days a week. When he began feeling faint on the job, he would ignore symptoms until they passed as he was uninsured and knew he couldn't afford an urgent care or emergency room visit.
A month later, Mike experienced the same symptoms, but this time they didn't subside and were accompanied by painful sores on his foot. After several more weeks, the pain had increased to the point where he struggled to walk, let alone work. Despite worsening symptoms, he reluctantly chose to continue working and not seek care until a coworker told him about his local free clinic and encouraged him to seek care there.
Upon arriving at the clinic, his provider quickly diagnosed Mike with untreated Type 1 Diabetes and the ulcers on his foot required urgent attention. H he was quickly taken to the hospital for immediate treatment. While there, Mike had several toes amputated, but thanks to his visit to the clinic and the quick action taken, Mike did not lose his entire foot. Additionally, thanks to the close partnership between his clinic and the hospital, he was not charged for any services.
Mike found his healthcare home at his local free clinic, where staff have continued to work with him for the past ten years to ensure his Type I Diabetes is under control. Thanks to this ongoing chronic care management, Mike has remained healthy, employed, and avoided future expensive ER readmissions.
Today, Mike remains a dedicated patient as well as an advocate for the clinic, encouraging friends, family, and coworkers to visit in order to receive critical preventative as well as disease management services, and knowing they'll receive the same kind and warm welcome that he received a decade ago.
Virginia's free and charitable clinics play an important role in safeguarding the state's underserved population by providing much needed quality healthcare to Virginia's low-income, uninsured populations – and providing that care with compassion, dignity and respect. By delivering important preventative and chronic care services, clinics help patients remain healthy, reduce unnecessary visits to the emergency room, and avoid missed time from work or school due to illness. Find a clinic in your community.
