NJ clinic that provides free health care receives more than $76K

Sherry Townsend considers herself lucky after finding what she calls her saving grace. It’s the Cherry Hill Free Clinic, which provides free health care to the uninsured.

“They’re amazing,” Townsend said. “I knew I needed medical attention. I don’t have insurance. Where else can we go without paying at least a couple hundred dollars just for a doctor visit to get a prescription?”

The majority of the people who work at the clinic, located on 5 Esterbrook Lane in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, are volunteers who are donating their time to help those in need.

“They’re nurses. They’re doctors. They’re individuals that have regular jobs,” Farah Roomi, the clinic’s Medical Director, said. “Some of them are ER physicians that work overnight and coming in the morning to see our patients.”

The clinic is the brainchild of founder and CEO Dr. Jubril Oyeyemi. He saw his first patient at the clinic eight years ago after hearing the same story over and over again.

“It would be a case of life happened, I lost coverage, couldn’t afford the doctor’s office visit and so now I’ve run out of meds. I’ve rationed my meds to the point where I’ve run out and now I’m sitting in front of you with a second heart attack, a second stroke, all because I didn’t have access to $4 medications,” Dr. Oyeyemi said.

The Cherry Hill Free Clinic is one of five free clinics in New Jersey. People from across the state visit it for primary care and nearly two dozen other specialties for free. That’s why it was named one of six recipients of NBC Universal’s Local Impact Grants. Through the grant, the clinic received $76,100.

“It lets us keep our doors open wider than it even is right now,” Dr. Oyeyemi said. “And we just believe really firmly that everyone deserves access to health care.”

Including Townsend.

“I just recently moved in with my son because I can’t even afford rent and I have a fulltime job,” she said. “Finding this place has been an absolute blessing.”