By JACK BERNARD, Special to The Citizen
“Our mission is to have an exemplary state of health and well-being for all residents of our Fayette County community.” — Geneva Weaver, Executive Director, Fayette C.A.R.E. Clinic
Of the major democracies in the world, only one does not provide universal health insurance for its citizens — the USA. Because of this situation, we have an unacceptable number of uninsured residents in USA, our state and the community in which we live.
Georgia has the third highest number of uninsured in the nation — 1.4 million, caused by the decision of the General Assembly not to full expand Medicaid (905 paid for by the federal government).
Even more citizens are underinsured, having unacceptably high premiums and deductibles. Many of these folks work for small business or government. Worse, their premiums and deductibles are rising annually even higher than the rate of inflation.
My professional background is in healthcare — with government, non-profits and for profits over many decades. When I joined the Rotary Club of Peachtree City some time ago, I was pleased to find out that it was supporting a significant number of fine non-profit healthcare organizations, one being the respected Fayette C.A.R.E. Clinic, headed by Geneva Weaver.
Dedicated to caring for the medically underserved population, Fayetteville’s Fayette Care Clinic began way back in 2005. But at that time, its free services were limited. Plus, it was only open one night a week. Over time, that situation has changed for the better.
Fayette Care Clinic now has a wide range of highly qualified, Board-certified primary care and specialty care providers. Dr. Charles Bergstrom heads the FCC Primary Health Care section and Dr. Nimish Dhruva heads Cardiology.
These dedicated physicians and other medical practitioners, such as physicians assistants and nurse practitioners, volunteer their considerable skills talents to serve Fayette County’s underserved residents. And they do it free of charge.
The Fayette C.A.R.E. Clinic currently offers the following services in addition to primary care:
CHIROPRACTIC
PODIATRY
CARDIOLOGY
PHYSICAL THERAPY
VISION
MENTAL HEALTH
MAMMOGRAPHY
LAB TESTING
CT SCANS, ULTRASOUNDS, X-RAYS & MRI’s
Fayette Care Clinic, providing free services for uninsured, low-income patients, is located at 105-C Bradford Square in Fayetteville. The phone number for FCC is 770-719-4620.
FCC needs volunteers for a wide range of tasks, medical (NP, CMA, etc.) and non-medical (grant writer, etc.). If you are a caring person, please feel free to volunteer your services. It will be sincerely appreciated.
Further, monetary donations can be made at the following web site: https://fayettecareclinic.com/donate/
[The opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the individual member and do not necessarily reflect the views of all members or the Rotary Club as a whole.]
