Ferndale Free Clinic Is Moving To A New Location

FERNDALE, MI — FernCare, the Ferndale health clinic that provides free medical care for anyone 19 to 64 without insurance, is packing up because its current space was sold to a developer. But fear not, the new digs are just a couple blocks away. The last clinic at the current location (459 E. 9 Mile Rd.) is Saturday, Nov. 19 and the first clinic at the new location (751 E. 9 Mile Rd.) will be Saturday, Dec. 3.

The absolutely free clinic has helped over 1,000 patients and counting, and was the byproduct of a happen-chance conversation. Director Ann Heler told Patch, “Five of us started this. We were sitting around having coffee just talking. Two of the people happened to be self-insured and one woman pulled out a medical bill and said ‘What do people do that can't pay this?' I said 'You know what? Let's start a free clinic.' That was in 2007. Now we have patients from 43 different cities."

Heler says, "No one comes here because they want to. They come here because they have no place else to go. We call our patients 'heroes' for being willing to get help and walk through our front door. It takes a lot to come in and many people cry when they come here because they may have gone somewhere else and got disrespectful treatment because they didn't have insurance. We don't care how much money you make or that you don't have insurance. You're our patient.”

FernCare seems to be full of heroes. With the exception of five positions, the rest of the operation is volunteer-driven. From the lab staff to medical assistants to doctors. And Heler has effusive praise for both the volunteers and the city of Ferndale, "Our volunteers are fabulous. We've never closed a clinic because we didn't have enough volunteers. And Ferndale is a special city. We have so many people here doing start-ups and things outside what you would think of as traditional business. The city council is working really hard to get a lot of alternative things in place - like getting bicycles on the streets and our parks are almost perfect. Many places in Southeast Michigan refer people to us. I'm amazed."

If you're amazed and want to donate even a few dollars to help FernCare help the people of Michigan, click here. If you'd like to volunteer or become a patient, call FernCare at 248-677-2273.

Photo courtesy of Ferncare