JOHNS ISLAND -- Uninsured adults across the Lowcountry will soon be able to get free health care from the Barrier Islands Free Medical Clinic.
Starting Sept. 16, the clinic will be expanding its services to the entirety of Berkeley, Charleston and Dorchester counties. Currently, the clinic sees patients who either live or work on Johns, James and Wadmalaw islands, Folly Beach, Hollywood, Meggett, Walterboro, Ravenel, and those who work in the hospitality industry in downtown Charleston and West Ashley.
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While there are several other free clinics in the tri-county area -- including the Sumter Free Health Clinic in St. Stephen, Crisis Ministries Health Clinic in Charleston, Dream Center Clinic in North Charleston and Edisto Indian Clinic in Ridgeville -- David Peterseim, medical director of the clinic, said there's still a major need for more accessible health care.
"There's probably 25,000 people in the tri-county area that qualify for free health care that don't go to a free clinic. They don't go to any clinic," Peterseim said. "They go to emergency rooms as a stopgap measure."
According to the South Carolina Revenue and Fiscal Affairs Office, nearly 13 percent of all people under 65 in the state didn't have health insurance in 2020. Estimates shows 12 percent of people under 65 in Berkeley County, 11.3 percent in Charleston County and 12.6 percent in Dorchester County didn't have health insurance -- over 78,000 people total in the tri-county area.
Peterseim emphasized the importance of patients starting a "medical home" by establishing a relationship and building trust with a doctor as well as an understanding of diseases and disease prevention. He said it's daunting that so many people in the Lowcountry need care, but the clinic is up for the challenge.
Melissa Frank, the clinic's executive director, said in the past the clinic's expansions have been slow and organic. With the volunteer base and supplies the clinic currently has, Frank said the clinic can accommodate more patients.
"We just decided, because we can qualify more, let's just open the doors," she said.
Ella Garner, a weekly volunteer at the clinic, has been at the clinic for about six months while waiting to hear back about PA school. She said she enjoys working at BIFMC and seeing how good the doctors are.
"It's been definitely a good experience being here and seeing all of the providers and how successful they are," Garner said. "(They're) encouraging me to be the same when I get back to school."
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The clinic first opened in 2008 when two retired doctors, Arthur Booth and Charlie Davis, wanted to treat uninsured adults who weren't getting the care they needed, Peterseim said. Inspired by the Volunteers in Medicine (VIM) Clinic on Hilton Head Island, Booth and Davis opened their own center, serving the Johns Island community and surrounding islands.
In 2018, BIFMC opened a new clinic across the parking lot from its original location and has since expanded the communities it provides services to. Frank said the clinic has grown to 66,000 patients since it opened in 2008 and sees on average around 400 patients a month.
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Frank said besides primary care, the clinic has 16 different board-certified specialists, including doctors in dermatology, urology, endocrinology, orthopedics and gynecology.
The clinic does its best to make patients feel safe and comfortable, Peterseim said. It has a Spanish language interpreter in-house for patients who may not speak English, administers six adult vaccines including HPV and flu, and gives out $2 million in free medication every year.
A member of the National Association of Free & Charitable Clinics, BIFMC has some guidelines for who qualifies for care. An individual must earn less than 299 percent of the Federal Poverty Level to qualify.
Uninsured individuals from 18 to 65 in the clinic's service area must earn less than $45,029 annually to qualify, while couples who make less than $61,115 are eligible. Each additional person in a household adds $16,086 to the limit. Patients must qualify every year.
The clinic receives around $1.5 million annually but doesn't take any federal or state funding, Frank said. As a nonprofit, it relies on three annual fundraisers, grants and individual donations. Sixty percent of its funding comes from private grants, 30 percent from the fundraisers and the remaining 10 percent from donations.
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Frank said each patient visit costs $243, which is fully covered by the clinic. She added 91 percent of the fundraising, grants and donations go toward client care.
While Barrier Islands Free Medical Clinic is expanding its services, it currently has no plans of opening other locations.
Peterseim said his goal is for the formula of BIFMC -- a blueprint for a self-sustaining clinic -- to be replicated and used around the country, and attributes the past 16 years of success to every employee, volunteer and donor.
"All these people, whether they're raising money or answering the phone or seeing patients, they're all part of a process that we're trying to write down so that it can be translated somewhere else, to not just here," he said.