On Saturday the Rocky Mountain News ran a article on the Inner City Health Center:
Inner Center Health Center is…somewhere between a free clinic and the emergency room, a place for medical treatment, reassurance and consideration.
“We’re a patient-centered health care home,” said Pam Krotchko, director of resource development.
ICHC is not unlike any group of doctors in practice, the same idea as the family doctor or, in modern terms, the primary care physician, available in the neighborhood, in this case generally the Five Points area. …
The ICHC is nonprofit but it is not a charity; patient revenue makes up 30 percent of its budget. It is faith-based and funded by grants and contributions and would not exist without volunteers in every discipline, from nursing to the dispensary.
It falls somewhere between the opposite ends of completely private and fully subsidized health care, figuring that each patient visit averages about $50 less than it would at a regular clinic.
“We are not an urgent-care facility,” said Krotchko. “In fact, we help keep patients out of emergency rooms by providing continuing service.”
ICHC provides five services: adult medical care, prenatal services, pediatrics, dental services and counseling. It offers immunizations, physicals and treatment for sudden illnesses. In other words, everything but a hospital bed.
They accept donations. But it’s too bad people are forced to donate to government charities like SCHIP and Medicaid. That’s unfair competition for non-profits like the ICHC and others.
