AmeriCares to Launch Stamford Free Clinic

AmeriCares is opening a free clinic in Stamford to serve thousands of low-income residents without health insurance. When it debuts this fall, the AmeriCares clinic will be the only free clinic in Stamford where 20 percent of the population is uninsured and Stamford Hospital has the second highest rate of uncompensated care in the state, according to a release from AmeriCares.

Thousands of Stamford residents who rely on emergency rooms will have "a medical home" and the hospital will be able to focus on true emergencies, said AmeriCares President and CEO Curt Welling in the release.

AmeriCares is launching the Stamford clinic in partnership with Stamford Hospital and Quest Diagnostics. Stamford Hospital will offer a full range of diagnostic services including X-rays, CT scans and MRIs. Quest Diagnostics will provide free laboratory work for patients. 

The clinic has received core funding commitments from the OdysseyRe Foundation, Building and Land Technology, Purdue Pharma and two anonymous donors, according to the release.

“We are proud to partner with AmeriCares to expand the clinic services available in our community,” said Stamford Hospital President and CEO Brian G. Grissler in the release. 

The AmeriCares Free Clinics in Norwalk, Bridgeport and Danbury and affiliated partners provide $6.2 million in free, quality health care to 3,000 Fairfield County residents annually. With the addition of the Stamford clinic, AmeriCares expects to increase the number of patient visits to 11,200 annually. The expansion will offer an additional $750,000 in free medical services in its first year of operation, and will ultimately benefit thousands of area residents by providing access to primary care services that can help prevent health problems or reduce complications for existing conditions.

The Stamford clinic will begin aboard a specially outfitted mobile unit and then transition to a permanent location, according to the release from AmeriCares. Qualifying low-income adults without health insurance will receive treatment for episodic illnesses and chronic diseases, as well as pre-employment physicals that help the unemployed get back into the workforce.