By KATIE WISELY
WISH-TV | wishtv.com
A free clinic in Westfield helps residents without health insurance. Now, the clinic is busier than ever and on the move throughout the county with the new mobile clinic.
By the end of 2019, Heart and Soul Clinic predicts it will see more than 1,200 patients.
Heart and Soul has been around for 10 years. There are an estimated 30,000 people in Hamilton County without health insurance, and the clinic says that doesn’t count refugees and those who are undocumented.
The clinic provides primary care and dental care for not only Hamilton County, but for Central Indiana.
Heart and Soul Free Clinic Director Dr. Barbara Haehner says that although Hamilton County is the richest county in Indiana, the need for good medical care among the poor does exist. (Photo provided)
Heart and Soul’s biggest accomplishment is that it provides ongoing chronic healthcare to people uninsured, such as monitoring high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease and lung disease. Those people come in for checkups and ongoing adjustment of medications.
Some may wonder why the wealthiest county in the state would be in such a need.
“There’s a large number of working poor up north and even in Noblesville, and so people think of Hamilton County, it is the richest county in Indiana, but there are still many, many people that are in need here,” Heart and Soul Clinic Medical Director Dr. Barbara Haehner said. “The amount of help dollars are less here in Hamilton County for that reason.”
The clinic operates on less than $200,000 dollars per year. That comes from nine ongoing yearly grants and private donations. Those grants provide 70 percent of the clinic’s operating budget, and those grants are not guaranteed.
A benefactor helped renovate the new space in Westfield and pays the rent and utilities. The clinic also has a partnership with Westfield Pharmacy to help provide prescriptions to patients at a lower cost.
The clinic has a mobile unit which travels to food pantries around the area and it partners with Grace Care Center, where it is present three days each month. The clinic also travels to Carmel United Methodist Church.
To view clinic hours, volunteer your time, or donate, visit heartandsoulclinic.org.