In a Town Dominated by One Hospital, the Uninsured Turn to This Free Clinic | Albany, Georgia

The Samaritan Clinic is a small, free clinic serving people without health insurance in Albany, Georgia. It was created in 2008 to provide care for people who couldn’t afford medical treatment. More than 15 years later, the need has changed little. Today, Albany has one of the highest poverty rates in the state. About 16% of residents are uninsured, nearly double the national average. And people here pay some of the highest commercial health insurance rates in the country.

Not far from the Samaritan Clinic is Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital, Southwest Georgia’s largest hospital — a nonprofit founded on the principle that patients should be treated regardless of their ability to pay.

So why do some residents turn to a free clinic for care?

This short documentary is part of our five-part series “Sick in a Hospital Town,” about why people in Albany are so sick when the city’s dominant institution is a hospital. Read or listen to the full series: https://propublica.org/albany

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