For over 30 years, Arlington Free Clinic has been a medical home for our community, providing comprehensive healthcare to adults living with a low income and without health insurance. Whether coping with a chronic disease like diabetes, fighting a health crisis such as cancer, or seeking dental or behavioral healthcare, our neighbors can count on us. Thanks to your generosity, we can continue to be a medical home for our patients, providing and coordinating the care they need to maintain good physical and mental health.
We wish we were not needed, but sadly, demand for free and low-cost healthcare exceeds the capacity of Arlington’s entire healthcare safety net. Currently, there are approximately 10,000 uninsured adults in Arlington. Yet estimates are that this number is likely to double as a result of the federal budget passed in July, which significantly reduced Medicaid funding while adding work requirements.
Without coverage for medical, dental, and behavioral health services, newly uninsured individuals would either turn to safety-net providers, including AFC, for assistance or delay care altogether. This means letting chronic diseases and dental issues go untreated while ignoring worrisome symptoms. When symptoms can no longer be ignored, they will turn to hospital emergency rooms. This overreliance on emergency departments places tremendous strains on hospitals and drives up uncompensated care costs.
Most importantly, patients receive care that only treats their immediate symptoms rather than care focused on their long-term health and well-being.
At AFC, we are monitoring our changing environment closely while doing all we can to support the long-term health and well-being of our patients. What grounds us is the resilience of those we serve and the unwavering generosity of our community, including all of you reading this report.
With the steadfast support of our volunteers, donors, and community partners, we are and will continue to strive to be a powerful reminder of what healthcare can and should be for all of us. We are deeply grateful to each of you who makes this important work possible.
In gratitude,
Lesley Daigle
Chief Executive Officer
Jennifer Sosin
Chair, Board of Directors
