Free Medical Clinic needs support to help in Anderson, Morgan, Roane Counties

OAK RIDGE, Tenn. (WVLT) - An organization that treats people struggling to make ends meet is asking for your help now. The Free Medical Clinic of Oak Ridge is in the midst of its annual fundraiser, still far from its $100,000 goal. And all of the fundraising is happening online because of the coronavirus pandemic at http://www.fmcor.org/.

Executive Director Billy Edmonds said in a statement, “Our neighbors have to choose between going to the doctor or putting food on their table. Free Medical Clinic is changing that.” Edmonds explained that each $25 donation gets stretched into $125 worth of medical care, because of so many medical professionals volunteering their time.

Volunteer Trish Polfus said, “We have over 60 volunteer physicians, and office people who run the clinic at no charge. So they’ve donated their time so we can pass on all of that money to our patients.”

This clinic based in Oak Ridge also has an office in Harriman and serves people in Anderson, Roane and Morgan Counties. Patients don’t have insurance to cover medical needs and often they are working, just not earning enough to pay medical bills. The clinic serves approximately 5,000 people each year.

“The service industry has struggled very hard. And that’s a lot of the folks we see, in the service industry. So they are struggling at best when they are working and when they’re not working they have no recourse but to come to the free medical clinic for services,” said Polfus.