Sumter free medical clinic wants to grow
Individuals 19-64 may qualify if working part-time, in college
Licensed Practical Nurse Michelle Samsel takes a patient's blood pressure recently at Sumter United Ministry's Medical Clinic.
It might be one of the better-kept secrets in Sumter. Imagine a free medical clinic with licensed local providers, nurses and a pharmacist on hand for primary health care needs for adults who are really trying to make ends meet but are just falling short in being able to afford regular health care coverage.
Sumter United Ministries, 36 S. Artillery Drive, says you need to look no further than its free medical clinic located on site.
The free clinic and pharmacy are open Tuesdays from 4 to 8 p.m. with local certified and professional medical staff to provide care for Sumter County adults without health insurance, ages 19 to 64, who are employed at least part-time (20 hours per week) and make less than about $24,300 in annual pay. If a person is a full-time college student locally - taking at least 12 credit hours per semester - he or she may also qualify, according to Jacqueline Butler, medical clinic director.
Palmetto Health Tuomey also does the clinic's routine labs and x-rays free of charge. Free dental referrals can also be made if a patient has an abscess or needs a simple extraction, Butler said.
The free medical clinic has been open about four years now and currently has about 86 regular patients. Butler and Sumter United Ministries Executive Director Mark Champagne said recently they have enough volunteer, professional medical staff on hand to double that regular patient case load to about 160 and expand the clinic's services to two nights per week, instead of one.
The largest patient case load the clinic has ever had is a little more than 100 patients, Butler said, as some people age out of the program when they become Medicare eligible. Others might find a new job that offers insurance and exit the program.
Others may lose a job and don't meet the part-time employment requirement any longer, but Butler said those individuals can still be eligible to be seen for up to three months while unemployed.
Butler and Champagne encourage people who think they may qualify to set up a qualification interview at United Ministries at (803) 775-0757.
Champagne said the ministry wants the clinic to be known throughout Sumter.
"We're not trying to be a secret," Champagne said. "We're trying to make it the most-known assistance in Sumter."