Free Clinic Eyes Holly Springs Location

A free clinic aims to fill the area's health care gap, but before the nurses at Bethesda Community Clinic can help residents in need, they have to raise more than $20,000 in start-up costs.

The free clinic hopes to set up in to provide free and low-cost medical care to people without health insurance. Volunteer medical professionals will staff the clinic while nurses and citizen volunteers help with other issues.

The clinic comes after years of recession and double-digit unemployment have swollen the ranks of families who can't afford health care and don't have insurance through employers.

The Georgia unemployment rate has exceeded the national rate for four years and was 10.1 percent in July, according to the state Department of Labor, although the rate was better in Cherokee County at 8.7 percent in June, the most recent data available.

Penny Haynes, who does marketing for the Bethesda clinic, said it is looking at two adjacent suites in Holly Springs, but no official lease agreements have been reached.

To open, clinic founders need $5,000 in donations, Haynes said. That’s on top of $20,000 for equipment, supplies and record-keeping software. Then they’ll need $20,000 a month to remain operational.

Bethesda isn’t new to Cherokee. It hosted two free clinics in the Canton Homeless Shelter before it was shut down for renovations, Haynes said.

The refers poor residents to Bethesda Clinic for sick and chronic care. Volunteer professionals provide the care, Haynes said.

Their goal is to provide free health care on Saturdays and low-cost health care Monday through Friday, she said.

To qualify for free health care, patients will have to meet the Georgia standard for living at 150 percent of the poverty level, said Karen Fegely, a nurse and co-founder of the clinic. Other uninsured patients will qualify for the low-cost care.

“The clinic will be much more generous than ” Fegely said. “There are some people who are working, but they make too much to get free health insurance. A lot of them are in deep needs, especially the ones with deep needs who can’t get to a doctor.”

Fegely also said most of the medicines the clinic will prescribe are on the or available free at .

But before they can realize any of their goals, the founders must figure out a way to get the financial aspects in place.

While their funds are low, they have received some donations of supplies. The donated six adult exam tables and two children's exam tables, and Henry Schein Medical donated Hgb A1C and Cholest-tech machines.

You can donate to Bethesda Community Clinic online.