Excerpt from the Dayton Daily News
A free clinic has suspended its clinic hours in Dayton until further notice, following declining funding in recent years and a changing health care landscape.
Reach Out of Montgomery County, based near Miami Valley Hospital, provides free care to people at or below 250% of the federal poverty line.
Sharon Sherlock, retiring executive director of Reach Out, said Dayton clinic hours stopped because they didn’t have enough money to have enough paid staff to work with the volunteers.
She said the goal is still to reopen the 25 E. Foraker St. clinic and find new, sustainable funding.
“We’re looking more for a partnership than just a grant,” she said.
Since the free clinic was launched in 1995, the health care landscape has changed, including Ohio expanding Medicaid eligibility to cover more people and the growth of federally-qualified health centers, which are geared toward low income patients and charge patients based on income.
“With the influx of Medicaid expansion, a lot of communities have tried to transition their free clinic support to models that receive reimbursement, because it’s a stronger operation and a more sustainable platform to provide those medical services and it allows them to operate from a medical home model,” said Sarah Hackenbracht, president and CEO of the Greater Dayton Area Hospital Association.
But Sherlock said their steady stream of visits to the clinic show that there are still gaps in the system and that the free clinic is still a needed safety net. The 2018 annual report said the clinic had 2,937 clinic visits and, 11,630 follow-up encounters and 11,325 volunteer hours.
Sherlock, who just retired from her assistant professor position with Wright State University, said one of the financial challenges is that her executive director position with the clinic was paid for through her Wright State salary and now her position is unfilled.
Seth Bauguess, spokesman for Wright State, said “It is the understanding of the Boonshoft School of Medicine at Wright State University that the Board of Directors of Reach Out has been developing a strategic plan to guide their future operations. We, along with other community stakeholders, are waiting to hear their future plans.”
