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Birmingham Free Clinic Community Health Fellowship


The Birmingham Free Clinic was established in 1994 and is operated by the Program for Health Care to Underserved Populations (PHCUP). It is housed within, and partnered with, the Salvation Army South Side building complex. Our mission is to facilitate, provide and improve access to high-quality care among those in need through community partnerships, volunteerism, service learning and advocacy. A significant segment of our patient population are housed individuals who are working class, but are ineligible for State Medicaid programs, do not receive employee health benefits, or have recently lost benefits due to unemployment. However many patients still suffer from substance addiction, unemployment, and homelessness. Some patients have underlying mental illness, and suffer from maladies complicated by homelessness, lack of health insurance, health education and continuity of care. Patients’ common thread is lack of a fixed, trusted source of basic health care. At Birmingham, we work to provide quality, compassionate and integrated care with dignity to all persons seeking our services! The Birmingham Free Clinic documents nearly 3,200 patient encounters per year for roughly 1,100 individual patients. All clinical services are provided by our volunteer staff of physicians, pharmacists, nurses and students and at no charge to any patient. Students, interns and residents of medicine and pharmacy have the opportunity to participate at the clinic for a variety of rotations. As a BHL Fellow, you become part of the overall health team at the Birmingham Clinic, and you will provide social service resources to individuals who are vulnerable due to their socioeconomic and insurance status and possibly addiction and/or mental health problems, but with an integrated focus on continuity, prevention and education. Our goal is to provide unbiased care with dignity, compassion and understanding to all who may be in need. CLINIC OPERATIONS: Four days per week the clinic operates on a walk-in (no appointment) system. All patients are seen in the order that they arrive, unless one of our staff or clinicians needs to triage a patient back appropriately. Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday clinics are open to the general public. The Friday clinic sessions are primarily reserved for those patients who are housed in the Salvation Army Adult Rehabilitation Center and the Wednesday morning session is by referral only. CLINIC STAFF: Each clinic is run by a nurse manager, a medical assistant and one AmeriCorps National Service Member. All clinicians (physicians In addition, medical, pharmacy, nursing, undergraduate and other students volunteer and rotate through as part of a curriculum option. residents or interns, a volunteer pharmacist and a volunteer physician.

12/02/2014

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