The Bridge Clinic wants more people to use its services for free.

June 25th, 2008 at 03:46pm Deborah Austin

Every Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Rockford’s First Presbyterian Church, 406 N. Main St., doctors and caregivers from Rockford Health Physicians volunteer their time to staff The Bridge Clinic. The idea is to provide free limited medical care to people age 18 and older who have immediate medical needs but no insurance. These people may not seek needed treatment because of money concerns.

Since the clinic launched in January it has averaged only 3 or 4 patients a week, said Michelle Strand-Dorsey, social worker with Rockford Health System. “I wish we had more people coming in,” she said. “We’re trying to get the word out, ’We’re here,  we really want to help people.’”

The Bridge Clinic’s original intent was to provide treatment for working people who are uninsured, Strand-Dorsey said. ”I’m seeing an increase in the number of people who have recently lost their insurance,” she told me this week. “They’re just trying to make their mortgage payments so they don’t lose their homes.”

The clinic treats such issues as high blood pressure, diabetes control and bad coughs. Doctors will provide prescriptions for low-cost medicines such as antibiotics, Strand-Dorsey said. It does not deal with narcotics or injectables.  “We usually write prescriptions off the $4 list,” she said.

That’s not where it ends. The clinic intends to be “a bridge from no care to get you linked to appropriate care,” Strand-Dorsey said. “We refer people to Crusader Clinic or whatever program might be most appropriate for them.”

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