The Lander Free Medical Clinic was founded to provide free primary medical care services for those who are uninsured and cannot afford care (roughly 14 percent of Lander residents). Over the course of the clinic’s first year, the LFMC learned that simply providing a visit with a doctor wasn’t enough, though. As they have learned more about their patients and listened to their needs, LFMC has discovered that the social determinants of health, vision, dental, and specialist referrals have the greatest impact on their health. Examples: If a patient can’t see, they get injured. If they have dental abscesses, they are constantly on antibiotics until their teeth are removed. If they don’t have dentures, they can’t eat a healthy diet. If they can’t get transportation to a medical appointment, chronic conditions continue to deteriorate. So the Lander Free Medical Clinic came up with a solution: provide these services to some of its patients. LOR’s funding will help the Lander Free Medical Clinic to provide dental care to 20 patients, vision care to 15 patients, specialty referrals 25 patients, and Social Determinants of Health assistance (food, housing, and transportation needs) to 40 patients in the 2024 calendar year.
