It is with great sadness that we say goodbye to Alba McLinskey, dedicated volunteer and friend of the Augusta Regional Free Clinic. Alba passed away on July 8, 2011. She was always full of smiles, kind words, gave generously of her time and her self, and was an inspiration to us all. I don't think Alba would mind me saying this, in fact, I think it would make her laugh...she made the best shortbread EVER...she will be missed.

The Augusta Regional Free Clinic has been providing medical, mental health and pharmacy services to the underserved in our community for more than 18 years. This past year we served the acute, chronic and mental health needs of almost 1,500 patients, dispensed more than 25,000 scripts valued at over $2.4 million, and provided 6,000 oral health visits for adults and children through the Augusta Regional Dental Clinic. These are our core services and are key to fulfilling our charitable medical mission.

I would bet there are services provided at the Free Clinic that you may not know about. Do you realize we are a training site for tomorrow's health care professionals? We have multiple partnerships with area schools and agencies to provide training for a variety of students, interns and individuals seeking service hours in a medical practice. Our partnerships represent secondary, business and higher education as well as social and community service programs. Here are the some of the many ways we help:

• We provide internships for Valley Vo Tech nursing students and National College medical office assistant students to help them meet academic requirements, gain practical experience and help us serve patients.
• Nursing students from James Madison University, Eastern Mennonite University, and Nurse Practitioner students from the University of Virginia, participate in a variety of collaborations. 
• First year medical students from the University of Virginia have  met academic requirements in our Clinic and shadowed volunteer providers. 
• Select pharmacy students from Shenandoah University conduct a five week rotation at ARFC and gain valuable direct patient care and interaction through a formal arrangement with the University that is beneficial to the Clinic, patients and students. 
• A long standing collaboration with Mary Baldwin College has produced an arrangement with Health Care Administration students who spend the May semester learning about the operations of the Free Clinic and completing a project. Past projects have included newsletters, videos, educational materials and data gathering and analysis. 
• High school students from the Shenandoah Valley Governors School have been involved in a legacy project of Holiday Food and Gift Baskets for Free Clinic families. Over the past three years, by jointly coordinating the collection and distribution of food items and children's books, toys and clothes, the Clinic and students have been able to bring holiday cheer to those who might otherwise go without. 
• Waynesboro High School Honor Society students have performed their required community service at the Free Clinic and provided many hours of volunteer time to clean and maintain our wonderful facility.
• The Clinic serves as a work experience site for Woodrow Wilson Rehabilitation students who learn to apply newly acquired or relearned skills in a workplace setting and also to fulfill the last requirement for graduation from the program. They provide countless hours of administrative time, and help our Clinic and patients tremendously.
• Shenandoah Valley Social Services has a training program called VIEW - Virginia Initiative for Employment not Welfare - in which benefit recipients volunteer and learn skills that will help them in obtaining meaningful employment. Several of our VIEW program volunteers have been hired by outside companies.

Less often, we receive inquiries from individuals seeking to fulfill community service hours for some minor infraction with the law. Some of our most enthusiastic volunteers have been individuals hoping to quickly make amends for their "lapses in judgment." We are here to serve and almost never even mention the doctors' speeding tickets! 

Enjoy the remainder of the summer and thank you for all you do to help us in our mission.