December 29, 2016

A look back at the NAFC’s 2016

It has been a busy year for the NAFC’s 3-person staff!  We wanted to provide a high level overview of some of the accomplishments of the organization from the past year.  A huge thank you to our Board of Directors, members, partners, sponsors, volunteers and donors for helping staff continue our mission to ensure that the medically underserved have access to affordable quality health care.

We would also like to wish all of you a Happy New Year! We are looking forward to what’s to come in 2017, and toward working with you to build a healthy America, one person at a time!

In 2016, the NAFC…

  • Established a $300,000 Awards Program for Free and Charitable Clinics with NAFC partner Direct Relief to be implemented in 2017.
  • Continued and expanded the partnership and multi-state $1 million grant program for America’s Free & Charitable Clinics with CVS Health Foundation in an effort to expand access to health care.
  • Received a $60,000 grant spanning seven years from Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to help establish the RWJF-NAFC Health Equity Award. This award program celebrates health practitioners who excel in building a “Culture of Health and achieving health equity” in communities across the country.
  • Awarded the First Annual Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) Award for Health Equity presented by the National Association of Free & Charitable Clinics (NAFC) to Mike Espel, Pharmacy Director for the St. Vincent de Paul Charitable Pharmacy in Cincinnati, OH. This award came with a $3,000 cash prize.
  • Received a $91,000 Grant from Cardinal Health to establish a text messaging technology program for Free and Charitable clinics in Ohio in order to reduce no-show rates and provide health education programs directly to patients.
  • Established a new grant opportunity with NAFC partner Heart to Heart International and funded by Becton Dickinson (BD) – the Point of Care Enhancing Clinical Effectiveness (PoCECE) Grant. This grant is a multi-year initiative that will provide NAFC Member clinics with the essential diagnostic point of care testing needed to provide care to their patient populations.
  • Implemented the Impact15 health pledge program in honor of the NAFC’s 15th Anniversary, a national health pledge program focusing on how small changes can have big impacts on our health. Through this program the NAFC awarded three cash awards ranging from $500 to $2,500 to NAFC member clinics who participated in the Impact15 contest.
  • Held another successful annual Charitable Health Care Symposium in Orlando, FL where we celebrated the NAFC’s 15th Anniversary with over 350 attendees. Attendees where photographed by Dear World, had numerous networking opportunities with their colleagues from across the country and attended a wide variety of educational sessions including: Advocacy, Community Collaborations, Diabetes Management, Federal Tort Claims Act, Medication Access, Relationship Centered Communication and more. The NAFC provided 10 scholarships (valued at $3,000) to member clinics the Symposium and provided $4,000 in cash awards to members at the Symposium.
  • Added new partners for our members including: Afaxys Group Services Distributors Anda, Cardinal, Henry Schein, McKesson, Medline, R&S Northeast Smith Medical Partners Pharmaceuticals Generic- Actavis, Anneal Pharmaceuticals, Glenmark, Mylan Specialty, Qualitest Pharmaceuticals, Sandoz, Teva Pharmaceuticals USA  Injectable/Vaccines- APP Pharmaceuticals, GSK, Hospice Worldwide, Pfizer Multisource, Sanofi Pasteur Branded Pharmaceuticals/ Pharmaceutical Products- Akorn, American Regent, AuroMedics Pharma, Gavis Pharmaceuticals, Par Sterile Products
  • Established new electronic networking opportunities for members to communicate with each other, including a interactive group Facebook page and a new member Listserve.
  • Established a free electronic health record partnership for member organizations through Athena Gives.
  • Established a vision program with Essilor Health Foundation for member organizations.
  • Maintained 34 partners through which the NAFC is able to offer important discounted and donated supplies and services to our members.
  • Teamed up with Rx Outreach to help reduce the cost of medications for low-income individuals and households. Rx Outreach agreed to expand its Preferred Clinic Program to include more NAFC members. As a Preferred Clinic, NAFC members can benefit from reduced pricing on a new NAFC/Rx Outreach formulary, monthly prescription billing, access to the Rx Outreach “Clinic Portal”, and more at no extra cost to the clinic or patient.
  • Held a C.A.R.E. Clinic in Dallas, Texas, where in one day we provided over $1 Million in free health care services to 1,100 patients with the help of 1,000 volunteers, which included 650 non-medical volunteers and 380 medical volunteers (including over 65 medical providers).
  • Released a completely redesigned website and special 15th Anniversary Logo.
  • NAFC CEO served as the keynote speaker at the CBI PAP Conference in Baltimore, Maryland.
  • Held 18 technical assistance webinars for our members from topics ranging from the 2016 election, CVS grant overview, fundraising, chronic disease management, medication access, social media tips and more.
  • Provided donated products to our members, including Diabetes Testing Supplies courtesy of NAFC Partner Henry Schein, stethoscope donations, medical supplies CARE Boxes, office supplies boxes, Southwest Airlines vouchers courtesy of NAFC Partner Americares and more!
  • Received the 2016 Board Leadership Award from the Center for Nonprofit Advancement, an award recognizing and spotlighting outstanding leadership from Boards of Directors of Washington-area nonprofits
  • Established the Annual Safety Net Health Champion Award and presented the first award to Senator Andy Gardiner, President of the Florida Senate. Senator Gardiner is a champion for Free and Charitable Clinics and was instrumental in securing a $10 Million appropriation for Florida Free and Charitable Clinics.
  • Was featured in the The Wall Street Journal in article entitled “Pop-Up Health Clinics Fill a Void in Care” and Kaiser Health News article entitled “Free Clinics Expanding Mission To Help Insured Patients With High Expenses”
  • Was congratulated on the NAFC’s 15th Anniversary by Senator Capito who made a statement to the Senate recognizing “the outstanding work of our Nation’s 1,200 free and charitable clinics in providing vital medical services to low-income, uninsured residents,” including the eight clinics in her home State of West Virginia.  Senator Capito concluded the statement saying “I look forward to continuing to work with my colleagues in Congress to better address the needs of the medically underserved and to increase awareness and understanding of the important work that free and charitable clinics do every day.”
  • Received a letter from Senator Capito wishing the organization, its Board and membership a happy 15th Anniversary and stating that “working together, you are making our country a stronger and healthier place.”
  • Received a letter from Speaker Paul Ryan expressing gratitude for the quality health care our clinics and our dedicated health care professionals provide to communities across the country.  He states that “the clinics that you support are crucial to helping Americans access essential medical services.”
  • Worked with Congress to protect the Federal Tort Claims Act program for Free Clinics
  • Was asked to provide information to President-elect Trump’s Transition team about how health care can be improved in this country.
  • Was mentioned by Representative Alcee Hastings (FL) who spoke on behalf of the NAFC in the Rules Committee meeting about the important role of our members.  His quote is as follows; “I spoke with the National Association of Free and Charitable Clinics and I want to make sure the we on the committee recognize that Free and Charitable Clinics serve low income people who have few options for health care and who otherwise would fall through the cracks in our current system.  It is really important to me that we have expanded liability protection for Free and Charitable Clinics and their providers and it is my hope that we will address this at the start of the new Congress.”
  • Had the NAFC legislative priorities and appropriations language submitted by 50 Senators for consideration in full with no additions or modifications
  • Had the NAFC legislative priorities and appropriations language submitted by 205 Member of Congress for consideration in full with no additions or modifications