Inside a 125-year-old red brick building on Main Street in downtown Pinckney is the equivalent of any doctor’s office, but this one treats patients regardless of their ability to pay.
Twice a week, dozens of low-income Livingston County residents in need of medical care visit the University of Michigan’s Student-Run Free Clinic.
More than 500 patients are seen each year for regular checkups, sick visits, x-rays, and lab and other diagnostic tests at no charge. They can receive prescriptions and assistance of all sorts, including signing up for health care coverage or other benefits they may be entitled to.
Bianca Baciu stopped in for help with a persistent cough.
For some patients the clinic is a life-saver: a liver patient who lost his job and insurance; people living with diabetes and in need of insulin and monitoring; patients with pneumonia or kidney disease.
Samuel Cartes from Brighton relies on the clinic. He receives treatment for diabetes, a condition that if left untreated could lead to serious health concerns, if not death.
“Sometimes it’s just that you can’t find the care you need for that one little thing,” Cartes said.
For patients such as Sarah Donner from Fenton, the clinic provides yearly checkups and prescription refills.
“I don’t have the money to go to a regular doctor,” she said.
The clinic opens its doors every Wednesday and Saturday, and is the only free clinic in the county.
Med students gain valuable experience working at the clinic.
“Without the clinic, many have nowhere to go,” said Dr. Hari Conjeevaram, a physician and professor of medicine at the U-M Medical School. He is one of several professors and physicians who volunteer at the clinic, guiding the medical students and supporting the patients.
“We have many grateful patients,” Conjeevaram said.
A local firefighter is so grateful for the care he’s received over the years he shows his gratitude by helping out at the clinic.
“And the students are learning to be great doctors who understand the critical role of treating people without access to health care and of the importance of keeping a community healthy and out of hospitals and emergency rooms,” he said.
U-M students from the schools of dentistry, nursing, pharmacy and public health also work in the clinic.
The clinic began as a pilot program in April 2012 and became a full-fledged “safety net” clinic in October the same year. Four months later a fire destroyed the clinic, and it moved to its current location. Students raised money to move to a new location, and it’s grown every year since.
