NAFC urges volunteers to register for free medical clinic in Charlotte

The National Association of Free Clinics (NAFC) is urging volunteers to give back to their community by registering now for the large one-day free medical clinic for uninsured Carolinians to be held in Charlotte next month.

The NAFC, in conjunction with the North Carolina Association of Free Clinics, will hold the C.A.R.E. (Communities Are Responding Everyday) Clinic at the Charlotte Convention Center from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. on December 7th.

"All types of volunteers are needed to participate in this one-day, life-altering event," NAFC Executive Director Nicole Lamoureux said. "A few hundred doctors and other medical providers, as well as several hundred other volunteers, are expected to participate in the clinic, providing care for all types of medical issues at no cost to participants.  If more people, especially medical professionals, volunteer their time for this clinic, the number of patients that can be seen that day increases as well."

This clinic is being made possible through support from the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina (BCBSNC) Foundation, a long-time partner of North Carolina's free clinics. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina employees will be volunteering at the clinic.  

"This event highlights the invaluable service that volunteers provide not only for the December 7 event, but every day in our state," Kathy Higgins, president of the BCBSNC Foundation, said. "We count on doctors, nurses, dentists, other health care providers and everyday North Carolinians with big hearts to keep our state's exemplary network of free clinics running."

Both medical and non-medical volunteers are needed to participate in this one-day free clinic. Medical volunteers needed include doctors of medicine, nurse practitioners, dentists, physician's assistants, registered nurses, licensed vocational nurses, emergency medical technicians, licensed clinical social workers and more. Non-medical volunteers are needed to help with documentation, logistical support, patient intake and translation, as well as to be patient greeters and escorts.

Information on the event and how to register to volunteer is available online at: www.freeclinics.us. Volunteers are needed not only on the day of the event, Dec. 7, but also to help with setup on Dec. 6.

"Come help the uninsured gain access to medical care that they otherwise might not receive," Jason Baisden, executive director of the North Carolina Association of Free Clinics, said. "C.A.R.E. needs you to be a part of this meaningful event by sharing your talents and giving back to the Charlotte community."

This will be the ninth in a series of large, mostly one-day C.A.R.E. Clinics held around the country to bring together physicians and other health care professionals, as well as non-medical volunteers, to serve the needs of thousands of people who might otherwise go without medical care. Since September 2009, more than 10,000 uninsured patients received medical treatment at C.A.R.E. Clinics in Houston, New Orleans (twice), Little Rock, Kansas City, Hartford, Atlanta and Washington, D.C.

SOURCE National Association of Free Clinics