QUALITY HEALTH CARE FOR THE UNINSURED The plight of the uninsured has been well publicized, but never felt with more pain than right now with the current economic crisis. In recent months residents of the Greater Danbury Area who have lost their jobs or suffered cutbacks in their income are coming to The Boehringer Ingelheim AmeriCares Free Clinic of Danbury at a rate we have never seen before. Some come for a pain they have had for weeks; others because they can no longer afford to purchase their diabetes medication. No matter what ails them, they all come seeking free, quality medical care.
Imagine that you lost your health insurance and had to decide between buying blood pressure medication or milk for the week. Imagine your spouse has a growth that is getting larger and larger and you have no place to go to get it examined. You worry it could be a cancerous tumor and the thought keeps you awake at night, but you can’t afford the exams that would alleviate those fears. The Boehringer Ingelheim AmeriCares Free Clinic of Danbury is there for our neighbors in these situations, providing expert medical care, prescription medications, diagnostic testing and specialty care.
The clinic, run with the help of 150 volunteers, provides care to more than 1,200 residents of the Greater Danbury Area each year. Danbury Hospital is a vital partner, providing laboratory tests, diagnostics, specialty care, and emergency room visits for our patients. Danbury is a community that pulls together to help those in need.
Here at AmeriCares Free Clinics we don’t need to see the latest unemployment statistics to know the struggling economy is affecting our neighbors. We see it in the faces of the newly unemployed patients who come to us seeking care or help with prescription drugs they can no longer afford. However, just like many nonprofits dependent on private funding, we are seeing a decrease in donations just when the demand for our services has never been greater.
Help us keep Danbury healthy. Please “Take Five to Give 5.”
Karen Gottlieb
Executive Director
AmeriCares Free Clinics
The impact of the recession has been far reaching and not always obvious. Karen's comments remind us all that the loss of a job can mean much more than the loss of income. In a day and age when a catastrophic health problem can bankrupt working families without health care benefits, our community needs help from great organizations like AmeriCares. Take five minutes now and give $5 in support of working families without health care.
Posted by: Michael Johnston | June 10, 2009 at 06:01 AM