MACON, Ga. — The Macon Volunteer Clinic is getting ready to grow and expand.
For 20 years, they've served working people who don't have insurance in Macon-Bibb and Twiggs County- free of charge. They offer help with medication and provide a variety of medical and dental services.
Their Facebook said they've helped over 4,500 patients over the years. Now, they plan to help even more patients by offering new services.
"By the end of this month, we should be able to see patients on-site for eye care, and that'll include diabetic eye exams," Acting Executive Director Mara Beck said.
Thanks to donations, they raised about $17,000 last year for their new eye clinic.
"Diabetic eye exams are what we will focus on a lot but we'll be able to provide eye exams to any patient, as well as prescription eyeglasses," Beck said.
On top of that, they expect to serve even more people, when they move from Ingleside to downtown Macon.
They're not announcing their new location, but they hope to open in 2025.
"We'll be expanding our services and being able to help more patients because we're limited in our ability right now with the amount of exam rooms we have, and dental chairs, etcetera," Beck said.
They currently have six patient rooms, but the new location will have at least ten.
"We'll be able to offer more specialty care. So right now we offer gynecology, nephrology, acupuncture and so those services can continue to expand," Beck said.
The new clinic will be partly funded by $500,000 from the American Rescue Plan, and a $500,000 donation from the Beverly Meadors Charitable Trust.
They'll soon launch a capital campaign to cover the rest of the new clinic's renovation costs.
They're always looking for more physician, student, and administration volunteers to keep up their operations.
You can find a volunteer form on their website here.
According to their website, these are the eligibility requirements for being served at the clinic:
- Be actively working.
- Live in Macon-Bibb or Twiggs County.
- Be between the ages of 18–64.
- Be uninsured (no Medicaid or Medicare, private or employer-provided health insurance, or VA benefits).
- Provide a valid Social Security number.
- Provide a current-year tax return for you and your spouse.
- You must earn no more than 200% of the 2023 federal income guidelines – at or below the amount indicated for your family size in the chart below:
