Now available online!  2007 Annual Report

Helping Hands Clinic has been providing quality medical care and prescription medications to low-income, uninsured Caldwell County residents since 1998.  Founded on the belief that all persons deserve equal access to healthcare, Helping Hands Clinic strives every day to match this mission with the needs of the community.

Did you know?

®Between 2005 and 2006, 2.1 million more people became uninsured.  Of those 2.1 million, 700,000 are children.  By 2006 18% of the non-elderly lacked health insurance.  (Source:  Kaiser Family Foundation)

®More than four out of five (82%) of the uninsured are in working families—71% in households with at least one fulltime worker and 11% with a part-time worker.  (Source:  Kaiser Family Foundation)

®The percentage of people (workers and dependents with employment-based health insurance has dropped from 70% in 1987 to 59.5% in 2005.  This is the lowest level of employment-based insurance coverage in more than a decade.  (Source:  Center of Budget and Policy Priorities)

®About 20% of the uninsured (vs. 3% of those with coverage) say their usual source of care is the emergency room.  (Source:  Kaiser Family Foundation)

®Anlayses of North Carolina hospital discharge data show that the uninsured are 35% more likely to be hospitalized for preventable conditions than individuals with private insurance.  (Source:  NC Institute on Medicine)

®The National Institute of Medicine estimates that the nation loses $65-$130 billion every year in “health capital” due to the poorer health and premature deaths of the uninsured. 

®Seventy-one North Carolina Free Clinics provided $67 million in free care in 2006 including 320,589 patient encounters and 259,000 volunteer hours. (Source:  NCAFC 2006 Annual Report)

®Across the United States, free clinics raise over $300 million a year in    private funds to provide health care to more than 3.5 million individuals valued at $3 billion.  (Source: NAFC)