The Gary Burnstein Community Health Clinic is a

free clinic A free clinic or walk in clinic is a health care facility in the United States offering services to economically disadvantaged individuals for free or at a nominal cost. The need for such a clinic arises in societies where there is no universal ...

Pontiac Pontiac may refer to: *Pontiac (automobile), a car brand *Pontiac (Ottawa leader) ( – 1769), a Native American war chief Places and jurisdictions Canada * Pontiac, Quebec, a municipality **Apostolic Vicariate of Pontiac, now the Roman Catholic D ...

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

, United States. It provides primary free medical health and dental services to low-income and uninsured individuals. The Burnstein free clinic faces strong demand due to high unemployment in Michigan.

History

In 1997, Dr. Gary Burnstein, a cardiologist, started caring for patients from a local shelter in Pontiac, Michigan. Dr. Burnstein died in September 2003. His family took up his goal of providing healthcare access to the uninsured and founded the Dr. Gary Burnstein Community Health Clinic in October 2004.

90 West University building

Volunteers from the Kensington Community Church renovated a building into an operating medical clinic, dental clinic , and pharmacy from January 2004 through October 2004. The clinic opened in October 2004. In 2005, a fire at the clinic forced the clinic to move temporarily to the Grace Centers of Hope church. The clinic reopened in December 2005. The volunteer medical team saw about 150 to 200 patients and filled 300 to 400 prescriptions per month. The clinic had four examination rooms, a procedure room, two dental examination rooms with X-ray capabilities, and a pharmacy laboratory.

45580 Woodward Avenue building

In 2013 the Robert S. Peterson Foundation purchased a new building for the clinic. After a little over a year of fundraising and design, construction began on the new facility in October 2014, and the clinic moved into its new space in February 2015. The new building has seven medical exam rooms, five dental operating rooms, a full-service pharmacy, and an educational room. The Clinic offers various specialty services, including podiatry, dermatology, cardiology, optometry, gynecology, etc. All services are free to uninsured, low-income adults. COVID vaccines are available for ages five and older.

Services

All of the following services are provided free to qualifying patients: * Basic

primary care Primary care is the day-to-day healthcare given by a health care provider. Typically this provider acts as the first contact and principal point of continuing care for patients within a healthcare system, and coordinates other specialist care t ...

Patient education Patient education is a planned interactive learning process designed to support and enable expert patients to manage their life with a disease and/or optimise their health and well-being. Overview Education may be provided by any healthcare profes ...

Disease prevention Preventive healthcare, or prophylaxis, consists of measures taken for the purposes of disease prevention.Hugh R. Leavell and E. Gurney Clark as "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life, and promoting physical and mental hea ...

and

screening Screening may refer to: * Screening cultures, a type a medical test that is done to find an infection * Screening (economics), a strategy of combating adverse selection (includes sorting resumes to select employees) * Screening (environmental), a ...

Women's health Women's health differs from that of men in many unique ways. Women's health is an example of population health, where health is defined by the World Health Organization as "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not mer ...

, including gynecological care *

Men's health ''Men's Health'' (''MH''), published by Hearst, is the world's largest men's magazine brand, with 35 editions in 59 countries. It is also the best-selling men's magazine on U.S. newsstands. Started as a men's health magazine by Rodale, Inc. ...

Laboratory A laboratory (; ; colloquially lab) is a facility that provides controlled conditions in which scientific or technological research, experiments, and measurement may be performed. Laboratory services are provided in a variety of settings: physicia ...

testing *

Gynecological Gynaecology or gynecology (see spelling differences) is the area of medicine that involves the treatment of women's diseases, especially those of the reproductive organs. It is often paired with the field of obstetrics, forming the combined area ...

care * Full pharmacy services * Basic

Behavioral Health Mental health encompasses emotional, psychological, and social well-being, influencing cognition, perception, and behavior. It likewise determines how an individual handles stress, interpersonal relationships, and decision-making. Mental health ...

services

Patient requirements

* Supply the clinic with the most recent financial information * Supply the clinic with valid picture identification * Be a resident of the State of Michigan. * Fall within the clinic's income guidelines (250% of the federal poverty level) * Be uninsured

Fundraising

The financial support of the Clinic is based almost entirely on community donations, corporate and charitable grants, public grants, private donations, and the annual Esteemed Women of Michigan event.

Events

* Esteemed Women of Michigan

References

External links

Gary Burnstein Community Health Clinic

Burnstein Clinic YouTube Channel

Free Health Clinics of Michigan
{{coord, 42.640434, -83.289408, type:landmark_region:US-MI, display=title Clinics in the United States Buildings and structures in Pontiac, Michigan Medical and health organizations based in Michigan