Vanessa,

We do not accept the Illinois Healthy Women Card.   Centegra Health System and Mercy Health System do. 

I was wondering, does the clinic accept the Illinois Healthy Women Card(pink card)?

Not even having good insurance can protect you from teh devastating financial toll of a serious illness.  The kAiser Family Foundation recently came out with a study that illustrated the problems of well insured people who were diagnosed with cancer. http://www.kff.org/insurance/7851.cfm  This article contains heartbreaking stories of people who are having to forego treatments and medication in order to avoid fiancial ruin.  And these are people who had good coverage.  The co pays and deductibles simply because too much for them to handle.  While we spend our time with the uninsured, we also realize that the health care system needs serious overhauling in order to meet the needs of those in our community - evn those with insurance.

For the first time in the Clinic's 13 year history, we have had to temporarily close the door to new patients.  The overwhelming demand for services, the loss of a few of our valued docs and the economy has made for a perfect storm.  Luckily, we are bringing on five new physicians in February, and we hope that this will help alleviate the frustration at trying to get into the clinic.  We apologize to everyone who has had to wait for service - or couldn't get in at all.  We share your angst.  For those of you who wonder what you can do for the Clinic, here's a simple task.  The next time you go into your own doctor for an appointment, ask if he or she volunteers at the clinic.  We ask for only three hours a month.  The more docs we get, the more people we can keep healthy in our community.

My own recent bout with a serious illness udnerscores the incredible need for a significant answer to the health care problems of the country.  Our Clinic is but a bandaid that does the best it can with what we have, but we are all frustrated by the overwhelming need versus the capacity issues.  Even though our physicians are volunteers, lab costs, facility costs and other staff costs are huge.  A typical visit costs the cost around $100, but the patient pays about $15.  With that visit, the patient usually gets most of the lab tests, and medication included.  It is very frustrating to patients when they cannot get in, and it's frustrating to our staff who know there are so many people out there who need us.  We can only hope that a broader solution can be crafted so that we are not having to turn away patients when we literally have no place to put them.  It is the biggest challenge we face.