SUFFOLK—Western Tidewater Free Clinic (WTFC) recently received a certificate in recognition of the $2,183,709 in free prescription medication the organization has provided through their pharmacy to low-income, uninsured patients through participation with the statewide nonprofit Rx Partnership (RxP).

For nearly ten years, RxP, a nonprofit public/private partnership, has led a successful and efficient effort to increase access to free prescription medications for Virginia’s eligible uninsured through free clinic and community health center partners throughout the state. WTFC received its certificate of recognition at the Rx Partnership Ninth Annual Affiliate Roundtable on July 16 at the offices of the Medical Society of Virginia in Richmond, Virginia.

“Rx Partnership is pleased to recognize the outstanding success of Western Tidewater Free Clinic in providing critical medication to clinic patients who have no insurance and otherwise would be unable to afford the medication needed to treat their chronic and acute conditions,” said Amy Yarcich, Rx Partnership’s executive director. “With the current uncertainty of the healthcare landscape, Virginia’s health safety net continues to offer support and stability for thousands of patients each year. Western Tidewater Free Clinic’s commitment to providing prescription medications means patients stay healthy, improve the quality of their lives, and avoid costly emergency room visits.”

WTFC began participating as an RxP Affiliate in June 2011 and has seen significant benefit for the Clinic’s patients since that time.

“Thanks to programs like RxP, our patients are often able to leave the Clinic with their medication in hand,” said WTFC Executive Director Miriam Beiler. “This is especially beneficial since many of our patients have difficulty finding reliable transportation even to keep regular appointments.”

As a result of the relationship with RxP, patients have access to a variety of free prescription medication. Prescriptions can be filled immediately, avoiding the 2-4 week wait that is common to individual Patient Assistance Programs.

The mission of WTFC is to provide high-quality, non-emergency health care to residents of Western Tidewater (Suffolk, Franklin, and the counties of Isle of Wight and Southampton) who cannot otherwise afford it. WTFC serves adult patients, age 19-64, who are uninsured; 38 percent of these patients are employed in full or part-time jobs, many with more than one job. Ninety-five percent of Clinic services are treating and managing multiple chronic illnesses, including diabetes, heart disease, obesity and hypertension. Since opening its doors in June, 2007, WTFC has provided care to over 3,500 individual patients through 74,400 on-site visits for medical, dental, women’s health, mental health, and pharmacy consultation services.

RxP relies on the generous support of the Virginia General Assembly, a variety of foundations and corporations as well as the provision of free medication by seven participating pharmaceutical manufacturers: GlaxoSmithKline, Merck & Co., Novartis, Abbvie, Alcon, AstraZeneca, and Pfizer. In Western Tidewater Free Clinic’s service area, the financial support of Rx Partnership by Obici Healthcare Foundation and Sentara Health Foundation helps to make the coordination of free medication to the clinic possible. Thanks to these partners, 157 medications treating a variety of chronic and acute conditions, including asthma, diabetes, hypertension and high cholesterol, are available to Virginia’s eligible uninsured. The retail value of medication distributed through RxP to all Affiliates exceeds $101 million. More than 532,000 prescriptions for more than 59,500 unduplicated patients have been filled with RxP provided medications and these numbers are projected to increase significantly in the year ahead.

For more information about the valuable services provided by Western Tidewater Free Clinic visit www.wtfreeclinic.org or call 757-923-1060. To learn more about Rx Partnership visit www.rxpartnership.org or call 804-377-1057.