Kane Co.'s free clinic hits 10,000 patients, expects uptick

As medical clinics and even the Kane County Health Department prepare to cut services as state and federal funding dries up, the Tri Cities Health Partnership might be one of the last such health care outlets standing.

The free clinic in St. Charles recorded the 10,000th patient visit in its history this month. Unlike most of the health care outlets in the area, the partnership receives no government funding. Donations, sometimes $5 at a time, and countless volunteer hours from about 100 members of the local medical community support the clinic's operations.

"The good news is the budget crisis is not going to kill us," said Shannon Watson, the clinic's executive director. "Will our patient numbers climb? Possibly."

Ironically, it's because the clinic is not as well-funded as some of its peers that has kept it in the black every year of its existence. Even the federal stimulus has not been very stimulating for the clinic, even though all such clinics inevitably see an upswing in patients whenever the economy sours.

"There are 1,400 free clinics in the U.S., and they did not get one dime from the stimulus," Watson said. "I don't think Washington even knows what free clinics mean. We survive because we do not pay our doctors. If our volunteers decided to give up their time providing their skills as a resource to us, that's what would really hurt us."

The clinic only serves people who live in central Kane County, mostly St. Charles, Geneva and Batavia. As such, it's not unusual for a new patient at the clinic to be someone who just two years ago earned a six-figure salary. Chronic conditions such as diabetes and asthma are present in about 60 percent of the patients treated. More than 50 percent of patients have dental issues, but the clinic has very limited resources to help those needs.

Answering that need and the celebration of the clinic's 10th anniversary next year will be the next milestones for the clinic.