08/29/2025

Students Serving the Community at the Columbus Free Clinic

The Columbus Free Clinic: A Legacy of Service and a Vision for the Future

A Q&A with Amelia Toomey, PA-C, MMSc, DMSc Candidate, Executive Director of the Columbus Free Clinic

Q: Can you tell us the story behind the founding of the clinic? What inspired its creation?
The Columbus Free Clinic was founded in 1980 by a group of visionary medical students at The Ohio State University College of Medicine who were deeply concerned about the number of people in Columbus without access to affordable healthcare. They wanted to create a space where uninsured and underinsured patients could receive comprehensive, compassionate medical care without financial barriers. Their idea was simple but powerful: care should always come before cost. From the very beginning, the clinic has never billed insurance or accepted payment, and that commitment remains the foundation of everything we do today.

Over time, the clinic has grown into an OSU-affiliated, student-run organization that serves both patients and learners. Today, students from across all fields of medicine, including MD, DO, PA, NP, PT, pharmacy, and social work, train together in an interprofessional setting. This collaborative model not only allows us to meet the unique medical needs of our patients but also shapes future healthcare professionals to practice with compassion and teamwork at the core of their careers.

Q: What is the core mission or philosophy that drives your work there?
The Columbus Free Clinic is guided by a mission that is both simple and profound: to provide high-quality medical services and equitable care to address patients’ needs, with the ultimate goal of helping every patient find a true medical home. We believe that healthcare must go beyond the exam room, so we connect individuals to patient-centered resources that address barriers to care, improve health literacy, and account for social determinants of health.

Our philosophy is also rooted in education and collaboration. We foster an interprofessional approach where volunteer healthcare professionals and students, including physicians, PAs, NPs, pharmacists, physical therapists, dietitians, and social workers, work side by side to deliver comprehensive care in a rich educational environment. We are equally committed to promoting an inclusive and culturally humble healthcare community by cultivating a volunteer team that reflects the diversity of our patients and respects their values. Finally, we advocate for our community and partner with other organizations to amplify our patients’ voices, because real impact requires both systemic change and individual care.

Q: What services does your clinic provide, and who do you primarily serve?
We primarily serve uninsured and underinsured patients in the Columbus community. Our weekly general internal medicine clinic serves as the foundation of our work, but we have grown into one of the most comprehensive free clinics in the country. In addition to primary care, we provide a wide range of specialty services, including psychiatry, gynecology, LGBTQ+ affirming care through our Rainbow Clinic, neurology, ultrasound, physical therapy/occupational therapy, dietetics, chronic disease management for conditions such as diabetes and hypertension, and a longitudinal complex care clinic for high-needs patients. We also offer dietetics support and recently launched a colonoscopy clinic, with cardiology services on the horizon.

What sets us apart is that all of this is entirely free of charge. Patients also benefit from access to on-site laboratory testing, imaging, and ultrasound services, which allow us to deliver high-quality, timely care. Just as importantly, our interprofessional model ensures that care is comprehensive. Medical providers collaborate with social workers, pharmacists, and other healthcare professionals to address both medical and non-medical needs, such as access to medication, health literacy, and social determinants of health.

Q: How has the clinic impacted the local community since it opened?
For more than four decades, the Columbus Free Clinic has been a lifeline for thousands of patients who would otherwise have nowhere to turn for medical care. By providing comprehensive, completely free services, we have helped reduce the strain on local emergency departments and given patients access to preventative, primary, and specialty care that changes the trajectory of their health.

The scope of this impact is significant. In 2024 alone, we conducted more than 2,400 free patient visits, dispensed more than 3,300 free prescriptions, provided more than 3,000 free laboratory tests, and delivered an estimated value of more than $860,000 worth of medical care to central Ohio. These numbers represent more than services. They represent lives stabilized, crises prevented, and patients supported in moments when they had no other options.

Beyond direct patient care, the clinic has also shaped the local healthcare landscape by training generations of future providers. Many of the students who volunteer here go on to serve in underserved areas or dedicate part of their careers to community health, carrying forward the values of service, equity, and interprofessional teamwork they experienced at the clinic. In that way, our reach extends far beyond Columbus. We are both caring for our neighbors today and cultivating the healthcare leaders of tomorrow.

Q: Are there any stories of patients or families whose lives have been transformed by your services?
Many of our patients come to us with long-standing chronic conditions like diabetes and hypertension. With the support of our chronic care clinic, pharmacy, and social work teams, we have been able to stabilize patients who had previously avoided care because of cost, helping them prevent hospitalizations and regain control over their health.

We have also served as a vital bridge for patients with significant mental illness. By providing psychiatric care, medication management, and supportive follow-up, we have helped individuals stabilize and avoid unnecessary hospitalizations, giving them the chance to live with greater independence and safety.

Prevention is another area where the clinic has made a life-changing impact. Through our colonoscopy program, we have identified many precancerous lesions early enough to prevent colon cancer altogether. Similarly, through our mammography program, we have found multiple cases of breast cancer at earlier stages, allowing patients to receive timely treatment and significantly improving their outcomes.

And finally, we walk alongside patients facing the most difficult journeys. For those with end-of-life disease processes who have no other options for care, our team has been able to connect them with charitable hospice services. This ensures they receive comfort, support, and dignity in their final days, something they might not have had without the clinic’s help.

These stories remind us that the clinic’s work is not just about providing care in the moment. It is about changing the course of our patients’ lives, whether by preventing devastating illness, offering life-saving treatment, stabilizing chronic and mental health conditions, or helping someone maintain dignity and comfort at the end of life.

Q: What are some of the most common health challenges your patients face?
Many of our patients struggle with chronic conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, and hyperlipidemia. These diseases are often complicated by barriers like lack of access to medications, limited health literacy, and inconsistent follow-up due to cost, transportation, or co-pays. Mental health is another significant challenge. Severe mental illness, depression, anxiety, and substance use disorders are prevalent in the populations we serve, and our psychiatry clinic has become a critical lifeline for many patients who would otherwise go without care.

Equally important are the social determinants of health that significantly impact our patients’ well-being. Food insecurity, unstable housing, and lack of reliable transportation are recurring challenges. To address these issues, we have developed a robust model of multidisciplinary care. Our social work team, comprising students and their supervisors, plays a central role in connecting patients to resources, navigating complex systems, and addressing barriers beyond the exam room. We also operate an Uber Health program, which provides free rides to and from clinic for established patients who have no other means of transportation. These efforts allow us to treat not just medical conditions, but the whole person, and ensure our patients can access care consistently and safely.

Q: What are your goals for the next year or two? Are there any new services or initiatives coming?
In the year ahead, we are focused on strengthening and expanding the core services that define who we are as The Columbus Free Clinic. Our weekly general medicine clinic is the backbone of our services, and we aim to increase capacity from serving approximately 30 patients per night to 50, so that more members of our community can access timely, high-quality care.

We are also expanding specialty services. A cardiology clinic is in development to provide free heart health services, and we are committed to increasing our diagnostic programs, such as mammography and colonoscopy, so that more patients have access to preventive screenings that save lives.

At the same time, we are working to ensure that the clinic itself has the necessary resources to thrive in the long term. Over the next two years, we are prioritizing financial sustainability by strengthening partnerships with donors, community organizations, and grantmakers. This will enable us not only to maintain our current services but also to continue growing in a thoughtful and sustainable manner. Ultimately, our vision is to continue bridging gaps in care while training the next generation of compassionate, interprofessional healthcare providers.

Q: How is your clinic staffed? How can other PAs and PA students get involved in the clinic?
The Columbus Free Clinic is unique in that it is entirely student-run and interprofessional. Each week, medical, PA, NP, pharmacy, physical therapy, dietetics, and social work students come together under the guidance of licensed volunteer providers. These providers, including physicians, PAs, NPs, pharmacists, and social workers, supervise care, mentor students, and ensure patients receive safe, high-quality services.

PAs can get involved as provider volunteers, covering both our general medicine and specialty clinics. They play a crucial role by staffing patients alongside PA, medical, and NP students, guiding students through history taking, performing exams, creating assessments and plans, and helping them complete the patient encounter with confidence and accuracy.

PA students also join us from local learning institutions to volunteer in the clinic. They care for patients by collaborating with a volunteer provider, gaining hands-on experience in patient care while learning how to serve diverse and underserved populations in a supportive environment.

In addition, within the past six months, I successfully led the clinic through the process of obtaining Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) coverage. This allows us to offer all of our volunteer providers no-cost malpractice insurance for the care they deliver with us, a significant milestone that both strengthens our clinic’s foundation and lowers barriers for providers who want to give back.

There are many ways for PAs and PA students to get involved, and every hour of service makes a tangible difference not just for our patients but also in shaping the next generation of healthcare providers who will carry forward the values of service and equity.

Closing Reflection
As a PA and as the Executive Director of the Columbus Free Clinic, it has been the honor of my career to help carry forward a legacy of service that began more than forty years ago. Every Thursday evening, I see patients receiving care that may have seemed out of reach, and I see students from various disciplines learning what it means to serve with compassion, humility, and teamwork. It is a reminder that healthcare can and should be both equitable and transformative.

I am deeply proud of the progress we have made, whether it is expanding core services, securing FTCA coverage to support our volunteers, or building new specialty clinics, but what inspires me most is the way our volunteers show up week after week, committed to walking alongside our patients. The Columbus Free Clinic is a testament to what is possible when a community comes together around the belief that healthcare is a fundamental human right.

In my own teaching, I carry a personal motto: “Meet people where they are at, and don’t leave them there.” It guides how I approach patients, how I mentor students, and how I help lead this clinic. At CFC, that motto comes alive every week as we meet patients in moments of vulnerability and help them move toward health, stability, and dignity.

I would warmly invite my fellow PAs to join us; your expertise, time, and presence matter. At CFC, you will not only provide care that changes lives, but you will also help shape the next generation of healthcare leaders while finding meaning and connection in the work we share.

Amelia Toomey, PA-C, MMSc, DMSc Candidate
Executive Director, Columbus Free Clinic