Good Samaritan Clinic

Residents of the Fort Smith, Arkansas area without health insurance face a daily threat to their health and economic security. They frequently must choose between obtaining needed medical care or keeping their homes and utilities. Without health insurance, many of our fellow citizens must delay timely health care for themselves and their families and put themselves at substantial risk for developing serious illness. Minor maladies can quickly escalate into catastrophic, life-threatening illnesses. Many are forced to turn to emergency rooms when their health care needs become acute, frequently with no ability to pay emergency room charges. A group of concerned residents opened the Good Samaritan Clinic's door to patients in mid-July 2003. To date, more than 8,000 different patients have received Clinic care with many having repeat visits.