To learn more about Direct Relief’s response to Hurricane Sandy, click here. To donate to Direct Relief’s Hurricane Sandy relief effort’s, click here.
Direct Relief USA is an important part of the organization’s efforts to strengthen America’s healthcare safety net by providing nonprofit community clinics and health centers with medicines and medical supplies for their low-income and uninsured patients. Direct Relief USA was established in 2004 to help people in the nation’s medically underserved communities gain greater access to healthcare resources, and to improve the ability of small safety net health clinics to provide services to our poorest citizens in both urban and rural areas. Direct Relief USA is working with more than 1,000 clinics in every state and is one of the only nonprofit organizations licensed by Federal and State drug agencies to distribute medicines and other medical products in all 50 states. View our USA Medical Aid Distribution map.
Whom We Help
Direct Relief’s donations continue to provide essential medical supplies and help us to divert funds that would have been spent on these items to other critical needs.” Frances E. Isbell, M.A., Executive Director, Healthcare for the Homeless, Houston, TX
In 2011, nearly 50 million people across the United States (15.7% of the population) lacked health insurance. Those without insurance have few options to receive basic, quality, and affordable healthcare. One essential source of medical care for those without health insurance is the nation’s network of nonprofit community clinics and health centers.
Nonprofit community clinics and health centers provide comprehensive, culturally sensitive health services to more than 20 million people in the United States every year. Located in medically underserved areas, safety net clinics and health centers provide primary care, dental services, behavioral health, and other support services to patients regardless of their ability to pay. Without access to these clinics and health centers, over-burdened hospital emergency rooms are often the only alternative for uninsured patients to obtain essential medical care.
What We Do
Direct Relief USA provides support to more than 1,000 nonprofit community clinics and health centers in all 50 states and Washington, D.C. This network is the nation’s healthcare “safety net” that supports more than 10,000 clinical sites that provide comprehensive, culturally sensitive health services to more than 20 million people, regardless of their ability to pay. Through partnerships with leading pharmaceutical and medical manufacturers, Direct Relief strengthens community clinics and health centers throughout the United States in three ways:
Safety Net Support
Direct Relief USA’s Safety Net Support is the largest program of its kind in the United States and provides the network of more than 1,000 community clinic and health centers with medications, medical supplies, and other healthcare products for their patients at no cost. Requests are made online through the Direct Relief Network – an online ordering platform – that enables healthcare providers to obtain the medical supplies that they need to provide services to their patients.
Emergency Prep & Response
Direct Relief USA also provides targeted assistance to help safety net providers prepare for and respond to emergencies, especially in poor cities and rural areas. Response efforts – which include distribution of pharmaceuticals, medical supplies, equipment, and cash – operate rapidly and involve local agencies and other nonprofit relief organizations.
Replenishment Program
As a complement to typical patient assistance programs, Direct Relief USA’s Replenishment Program provides pharmaceuticals to certified clinics through a replenishment model for dispensing to qualified patients, enabling clinics to receive products on a consistent basis, through a single source, and at no cost.
Local Programs
Direct Relief USA supports vulnerable people in our local community of Santa Barbara, California, by supporting local social service agencies, non-profit organizations, and the Public Health Department.
