Founded on the core belief that healthcare should be accessible to all, Rhode Island Free Clinic’s mission is to provide free, comprehensive medical care and preventive health services to adults who have no health insurance and cannot afford those services. Today, we provide access to care for nearly 2,400 low-income, uninsured Rhode Islanders thanks to a dedicated statewide corps of over 700 Volunteer Medical Providers and support volunteers.
Since its founding in 1999, the Clinic has grown from its grassroots, storefront origins to the award-winning statewide network of safety-net medical care that it is today, in large part thanks to the support of The Champlin Foundation. From its initial grant in 2001 that enabled us to expand into our current clinical space, The Champlin Foundation has supported vital facility improvements for nearly 20 years as we have grown to serve more patients and adapt our services to meet their changing health care needs.
In response to a lack of access to affordable dental care for uninsured adults in our state, Dental Care launched at the Clinic in 2018 with significant support from Champlin. Our new Dental Suite is equipped with two state-of-the-art operatories, including panoramic and intraoral x-ray machines, and a self-contained sterilization room. Patients now receive urgently-needed oral health care services such as dental cleanings, radiographs, simple extractions, and oral hygiene instruction all within the Clinic’s comprehensive primary care model.
As the only comprehensive Medical Home for uninsured adults that charges no fee for service in Rhode Island, partners such as The Champlin Foundation are invaluable to providing access to the highest quality care for our state’s most vulnerable residents.