Located in Downtown Eau Claire, and nestled in a small building is the Chippewa Valley Free Clinic.

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Chippewa Valley Free Clinic
Located in Downtown Eau Claire, and nestled in
a small building is the Chippewa Valley Free
Clinic. For some local residents, this is their
only source of medical assistance they receive
because they can not afford insurance or other
medical care, even though they are employed.
Sadly, only about 30 lucky people receive the
help they need each Tuesday due to limitations of
time and facility size.
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Chippewa Valley Free Clinic
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One may say that 30 people arent many, but since
the conception of the Chippewa Valley Free
Clinic, over 4,600 unique individuals have sought
assistance from them. The Chippewa Valley Free
Clinics filing cabinets are packed from top to
bottom with medical histories to prove it.
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Chippewa Valley Free Clinic
.

Because the Clinic operates on a first come first
serve basis people often need to be turned away,
and if you are unlucky number 40 or so, you may
be asked to come back next week. As a result,
people often come at noon to stand outside and
wait in line until 500 when the clinic opens,
only to wait again in the lobby.
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Chippewa Valley Free Clinic
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If needed medical assistance from the Chippewa
Valley Free Clinic your visit would start either
outside in the cold or winter or hot summer sun
and continue in the Lobby, where you could wait
for over an hour just to see someone. Once past
the lobby, you may find yourself standing on the
scale in the hall or entering one of five
modestly furbished exam rooms with just the basic
medical tools such as an exam table, desk,
stethoscope and ophthalmoscope.
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Chippewa Valley Free Clinic
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At this time a social worker would meet with you
to discuss your eligibility and home life. After
talking with the social worker, you would be seen
by a doctor, who is also a volunteer. The doctor
could send you to have some vital fluids drawn so
that some lab tests can be done. The current
location where fluids are drawn lacks privacy and
is in a cramped corner of a side room.
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Chippewa Valley Free Clinic
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This location also serves as a break room for the
nurses a spot for the doctors who are filling out
other patients medical histories. After a sample
of your blood is taken, you may be sent out to
the lobby to wait for the results if it is a
simple test, or be sent home if the test is more
in depth and must be sent to a local hospital for
testing.
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Chippewa Valley Free Clinic
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If you need medicine, the volunteer pharmacist
would get you the medicine you need. Recently
the pharmacy was improved at a cost of 1200, a
grand event. To improve the pharmacy, an
abandoned stairwell was removed to create a new
and larger pharmacy room, and while this is an
improvement, the room is still small. In
addition, other places such as (the place where
they draw blood) are in desperate need of
improvement.
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Chippewa Valley Free Clinic
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The drugs that you received from the free clinic
have likely been bought with donations or are
donated by pharmaceutical companies. These
donations often take the form of samples or
trial versions, and you are overcome with the
realization that these companies do make a
difference in local communities.
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Chippewa Valley Free Clinic
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We should all be thankful that as students we
will likely never utilize the Chippewa Valley
Free Clinic because we have access to Student
Services and also likely have health insurance.
Lets face it, we can all spare a little to help
this great cause, every donation, large or small,
will help. Think about it, how often have you
spent money on yourself, or regret spending 5,
10, or 50 bucks on something you eventually found
useless? We all have made bad decisions with
money in the past, but here is a chance to make a
great decision. Whether it is a dollar or ten,
all the money collected will go to this excellent
cause and give you the peace of mind to know that
you helped made a difference in someones life.


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Chippewa Valley Free Clinic
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As SOPHS left the clinic, a few of us caught a
sign that quoted Margaret Mead in saying, Never
doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed
citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the
only thing that ever has. We, the students of
UWEC are that community that can change the
world.