Lake County Free Clinic
Our programs
LCFC provides medical and dental care to adults and children.
- Care for chronic diseases, including diabetes, high blood pressure, breathing problems, thyroid disorders, autoimmune disorders, depression and mild anxiety.
- Care for acute illness, including fever, sore throat, coughs and colds, sprains and strains, bladder infections, pink eye and rashes.
- Dental care, including tooth extractions for adults and cleanings and fillings for adults and children.
- Case management to help patients secure referrals for basic needs.
- Preventive care, including women’s health exams, work, school, Head Start, camp and sports physicals, pediatric physicals, nutrition and physical exercise counseling, and stress relief.
- Individualized patient education and diagnosis counseling.
- Vision screenings and referrals to Prevent Blindness for a free eye exam and a free pair of glasses.
Our mission and history
Since 1971, Lake County Free Clinic (LCFC) has operated under one mission: to address the unmet health care needs of the residents of our community through the provision of quality medical and dental care. LCFC is the only free clinic in a Lake, Geauga, Ashtabula and eastern Cuyahoga counties for those who are uninsured, underinsured or otherwise unable to access needed care. LCFC volunteer and staff providers offer treatment visits, laboratories, medical supplies, pharmaceuticals, education and support to individuals and families looking to improve their immediate and long-term medical and dental needs. As a result of this care, patients have seen their lives improved and saved; those receiving care have the ability to be productive members of their families and their communities.
Care is provided, free of charge, to all individuals. While patients are asked to consider a donation at their visit, this is not a condition of service, and no patient is turned away due to an inability to pay. These donations make up 2 to 5 percent of the clinic’s annual budget. In 2023, LCFC served 966 patients in 3,677 treatment visits.
LCFC provides about $11 in market value healthcare for every $1 donated. This is due in great part to LCFC’s volunteers. More than 85 percent of providers at the clinic are volunteers, many of whom are affiliated with institutions like Cleveland Clinic, University Hospitals, or are in private practice.
Our leadership
Board of Directors, 2024
Chair: Susan Deming, RN
Retired, Lake Health
Vice Chair: Cindy Lord, PA-C
Retired, Case Western Reserve University
Secretary: Loretta Kruse, CAVS
Manager Volunteer Services, University Hospitals Lake Health
Treasurer: Drez Jennings
Managing Editor/Health Library, Cleveland Clinic
Emily Currie-Manring, LISW-s
William R. Fike, MD,
Leslie Johns, JD
Pastor Scott Kennedy
Ben Seligman, CPA
Jean Sency
Staff
Interim Executive Director: Andrea Londono-Shishehbor, DDS
T: 440-479-2535 | alondonos@lakefreeclinic.org
Development Director: Stephanie Devers | sdevers@lakefreeclinic.org
Medical Director: Courtney Gravens | cgravens@lakefreeclinic.org
Community Engagement Director: Dana Locher | dlocher@lakefreeclinic.org
Our patients
Over the past few years, LCFC has seen a shift in patient demographics. In 2017, 81 percent of LCFC patients were uninsured. In the first three months of 2024, 94 percent LCFC patients reported being uninsured. All of LCFC’s patients have reported being unable to access affordable healthcare elsewhere.
More than 91 percent of LCFC’s patients consider LCFC to be their primary medical and dental care provider. In 2023, LCFC provided 3,677 visits to 966 individuals between 1 and 85 years old.
In the first quarter of 2024, about 65 percent of patient households have reported an income below 138 percent of the federal poverty level. So far this year, 57 percent of patients have been employed, and 94 percent of employed patients are uninsured.
On average, 3 percent of patients have private insurance, and have noted that increasing premiums, costly deductibles and co-payments and limited providers are the primary reasons they need care at LCFC.
More than 60 percent of medical visits to LCFC are for chronic conditions, including diabetes, heart disease and lung disease. Medical supplies like insulin, testing strips and inhalers are unaffordable but necessary. LCFC’s goal for is for patients with chronic conditions to reduce or eliminate symptoms, ultimately striving to reverse the disease.
LCFC also provides acute care for infections and injuries and preventive care to help patients maintain and improv their health. This care has led to patients missing fewer days of work or school, maintaining their normal productivity and stabilizing their income while preventing more serious complications.
About one-third of LCFC patients report limited or no English proficiency. About 40 percent of patients this year have reported Hispanic or Latinx ethnicity; LCFC also sees patients who are White/Caucasian, Black/African American, Asian, American Indian/Alaskan Native and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander
From a patient
A 46-year-old uninsured male came to LCFC to establish care in late 2022. He had been a patient previously, but hadn’t been to the clinic since 2016. A January 2021 emergency department visit revealed an HbA1c of 8.1. He had known about his diabetes diagnosis, but hadn’t taken any medication, including insulin, for many years, due to the cost. By the time he came to LCFC to re-establish care, he’d lost feeling in his fingers, had excess urination and a drastic increase in his thirst. At that visit, his A1c was 15. For comparison, an A1c of 6.5 indicates a diabetes diagnosis.
LCFC was able to provide this patient long- and fast-acting insulin; his blood sugars responded well and he began additional medication. By his second appointment, providers saw a marked improvement in his blood sugars. Now, he continues to receive insulin and care through LCFC. This visit to establish care likely saved his life, as he was very close to severe, life-threatening complications of uncontrolled diabetes.
A 47-year-old female had a new patient appointment with volunteer nurse practitioner Loretta, who found a thyroid nodule in her neck and felt it needed to be looked at immediately. LCFC’s case manager met with the patient to make an HCAP referral to Cleveland Clinic. After three weeks, the patient called the case manager, stating she had not received any follow up and had anxiety about her appointment. The case manager advocated on her behalf and reached out to the multiple people and locations she had seen and spoken to. The next day, the office nurse reached out to the patient to schedule her surgery.
The patient called the case manager after her five-hour surgery to tell her that during the operation, they found and removed another nodule or mass. She said the providers told her that what they found during this surgery was causing
incredibly low calcium levels, as well. She told her she was extremely relieved and was forever grateful for LCFC, and feels that because of the care LCFC offered, her life was saved.
The need in Northeast Ohio
On any given day in Lake, Ashtabula, Geauga and eastern Cuyahoga counties, more than 40,000 adults and children are uninsured. Over the past several years, LCFC has seen an increase in the number of patients coming for care who are working in seasonal or minimum-wage positions (on average, about 60 percent of patients have some level of employment). In most cases, their employers do not offer healthcare coverage; those who do often offer high-deductible coverage that makes accessing care a financial challenge for their employees. These patients usually have very limited sick or vacation time. In many instances, they will forgo needed medical care. If they choose to make an appointment, they are not only missing out on much-needed income but also risking their employment. Combined, these factors have created a system that means many individuals who are employed are still unable to access the affordable care they need to maintain their employment, meet their basic needs and, in some cases, achieve a reasonable quality of life.
Lake County Free Clinic exists for each of them.
Recent needs assessments in each of the primary counties served by LCFC have shown an overarching need for care that goes beyond the exam room. Top needs identified in all four counties have included mental health care, access to healthy food, poverty, transportation, trust and access to care.
Data shows that Lake County has 40 primary care physicians per 100,000 residents. Geauga County has 71 and Ashtabula County has 30. In comparison, the state has 77 per 100,000 and the country has 76. Ashtabula and Geauga counties both have significantly fewer dentists than the state average (37 and 47 per 100,000, respectively, compared to the state’s 64 per 100,000). Both Ashtabula and Cuyahoga counties are considered among the least healthy counties in Ohio. Access to care in LCFC’s service area is substantially worse than the rest of the state.
LCFC provides medical, dental and case management care to lessen both the gap for service and providers in the region and the reliance on publicly funded systems like emergency rooms or urgent care settings. Almost 62 percent of uninsured patients receiving care in the emergency department said they went there because they had no other place to go.
LCFC offers uninsured and underinsured patients free, non-emergency whole-person healthcare needed to improve their quality of health and life.