In April 2017, The Point Washington Medical Clinic (PWMC) opened it's doors as a no fee for service, volunteer driven, primary care clinic serving our community one day per week.
Today, April 12th, we are thrilled to celebrate our 4th birthday!! Over the past few years, we have become an independent non-profit, expanded to two clinic days with a third day added in 2020 solely dedicated to COVID-19 testing. In 2017, we had 557 appointments. In 2018 that grew to 1,279. We had 1,857 appointments in 2019. Then in 2020 as the pandemic quickly spread, so did our demand. We had a record 3,793 patient appointments last year and in the first three months of 2021 we are on track to surpass that.
In four years time, the PWMC has quickly grown to become a well respected practice and community resource serving over 4,000 unique patients. During regular clinic hours on Mondays and Wednesdays we see (on average) 32 patients with the assistance of 16 - 20 volunteers (4 – 7 of these volunteers are licensed health care professionals). In 2020, before the COVID pandemic, we were adding approximately 11 new patients per clinic day. Since operations began, we have saved our patients the equivalent of over $2.5 million in healthcare dollars.
As we begin our next chapter, we are incredibly excited to build a permanent facility on the campus of Point Washington United Methodist Church. The facility will encompass more than 4,700 sq. ft. and allow us to triple our current exam room space from two to six rooms and provide more privacy for our patients. We estimate this expansion will allow us to serve 850+ patients per month in the future, a 300% patient increase. The plans include space for a conference area, teaching kitchen, dental suite with a separate entrance and exit, dispensary and inviting lobby.
New services and programming planned will include preventative care, primary care, specialist care including dental and more. This will transform the clinic into a "one stop shop" for comprehensive care for our patients, continuing our mission of providing quality primary care, while expanding to include specialty services, dentistry and wellness education. Altogether over the next five years, we estimate this will provide the equivalent of $10M in healthcare services provided to those least able to afford it in our community.
NONE of this would be possible without your support and the support of our generous community! We are incredibly grateful for our volunteers, business partners, donors and our dedicated staff. It truly takes a village and we thank you for being part of ours and for continuing to share your time and talents with us!! Cheers to working together to create a healthier community!!! 🎉🎉🎉
