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After Hurricane Helene and Amid Increased Need, Free Clinic in Western North Carolina Opens Medical Hub

From mobile clinics to a new 16,000-square-foot facility, Vecinos offer health services across nine counties in western North Carolina.

News

North Carolina

The opening of a new free clinic in western North Carolina is expanding health access for people without consistent medical care. (Courtesy photo)
By Staff

FRANKLIN, NORTH CAROLINA — During a visit earlier this year, the new 16,000-square-foot location of Vecinos Community Health Hub was buzzing with life.

“You can hear the excitement in the hallways,” said Marianne Martinez, CEO of Vecinos, a free and charitable clinic serving patients in western North Carolina. “The staff and patients are happy to have this space.”

Martinez, who has been with the organization since 2017, gave Direct Relief staff a tour of the health hub and said the $8 million building allows the free and charitable clinic to better serve patients, who are low-income, uninsured, adults in western North Carolina with a specific focus on the Latinx and agricultural worker communities.

The organization has adapted throughout the years to meet the needs of patients since its founding in 2001 through the Jackson County Public Health Department. Within three years, it was operating as a nonprofit mobile medical clinic for farmworkers across western North Carolina. In 2020, the Vecinos community began to think strategically about the future of the health hub from patient feedback that demonstrated a need for more bilingual free clinic services.

Vecinos CEO Marianne Martinez with one of the free clinic’s mobile units. The free clinic recently expanded to build a 16,000-square-foot health hub in western North Carolina to meet increased demand for health services. (Courtesy photo)

Vecinos serves a medically vulnerable population that has limited medical resources, especially in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, and compounded by changes to Medicaid. Macon County, where the facility is located, is considered a Medically Underserved Area, or a geographic area or population with limited access to primary care services, according to the Health Resources and Services Administration.

After years of planning and work, the health hub opened on May 1. The facility is equipped with eight exam rooms, four dental operatories, a community event space, a pharmacy, and partner agencies that offer social health services. The CEO said that Hurricane Helene caused $500,000 in damages during construction of the hub, but it will be fully repaired and operational by September 2025.

A health worker sees a patient at a mobile clinic in rural North Carolina. Many of Vecinos’ patients are farmworkers with limited access to health services. (Courtesy photo)

Scaling Up to Meet the Need

The new building is in Franklin. Over 37,500 people live in Macon County, and just over 16% under the age of 65 are without health insurance, according to census data. About 14 percent of Macon residents live below the poverty line, and about 10 percent of the county identifies as Hispanic or Latino.

Vecinos health staff at the new location. (Courtesy photo)

The space was built with their patients in mind, from the behavioral health wing to site security to protect patients. Staff say many of the patients have experienced levels of domestic violence, and the building has been designed to enhance patient safety and security.

So far, staff say the new space is a positive reminder of the work that they do each day.

Debora Alvarado, referrals coordinator at Vecinos, takes vital signs. Alvarado grew up in a family of seasonal farmworkers and remembers Vecinos treating her family with their mobile clinic. She now works for the clinic. (Courtesy photo)

“It’s great, the patients are more comfortable here,” Debora Alvarado, referrals coordinator, said about the new space. “We’re happy to have our own space for services.”

Alvarado, who has worked within every department at Vecinos over the last five years, said having their own space allows staff more time with patients, which also supports better communication.

Beyond Physical Health

A new waiting room at the Vecinos Community Health Hub in Franklin, North Carolina. (Courtesy photo)

The brick-and-mortar location will also have co-services through Pisgah Legal Services, which offers free legal assistance to low-income individuals; the WNC Alliance, which offers counseling and support to individuals affected by domestic violence and sexual assault; and El Centro Comunitario of Macon County, an advocacy group that empowers the Hispanic community.

“Our patients need a lot of things, and they don’t have time for all the things that they need,” Martinez said. Bringing services to them in one location is at the heart of the new facility.

In addition to the Hub, Vecinos has an outreach team of community health workers and a mobile clinic team to support their eight-county reach through home visits and migrant farmworker camp outreach.

The new building’s community event space is one of the most anticipated rooms in the building. Sheila Lewis, the clinic director, said the family-oriented room will allow them to host more events to engage the community, and for patients and their families to use the space for their own needs.

“That space is going to be awesome,” Lewis said.

Direct Relief has supported Vecinos with more than $1 million in medical support as well as financial support, including an emergency operating grant after Hurricane Helene.

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