LYNCHBURG, Va. – When Lynchburg’s new $8 million Community Health Center on Fifth and Federal streets opened on Tuesday morning, it already had more than 40 patients on the schedule to see doctors.
"About 57 percent of people served in this building are individuals uninsured," said Christina Delzingaro, CEO of Community Access Network and Free Clinic of Central Virginia.
The poverty rate in Lynchburg is about 25%. Delzingaro said 18% of people who live in the area of the health center are uninsured, which she says is pretty high compared to the rest of the city.
“Individuals whose income are below 100% of federal poverty, their services here are free, from Community Access Network and the Free Clinic. And that scale goes up to about $5 or $10 for folks who have incomes between 101 percent and 200. So the goal is to make it very, very affordable,” Delzingaro said.
Patients who come for care will find that the Community Access Network helps people of all ages and all insurance statuses. There's also a free clinic, which will serve low-income adults who are not insured, and there are Horizon Behavioral Health representatives, who can help people manage what the doctor orders for patients.
"We wanted to create something that was integrated, that was, as I said, a one-stop shop," Delzingaro said.
Patients who see a physician can walk over to another part of the building and pick up their prescription at Hill City Pharmacy.
"They have insurance or they don't have insurance or they're in that gap where their insurance kind of isn't really helping them cover those medications. It may be a really high cost. We're able to help everybody no matter what the situation may be,” Bryan Moody, pharmacy technician and owner of Hill City Pharmacy, said.
The new health center is open seven days a week. Hours are from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Thursday through Tuesday and from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Wednesday.