Services Offered at Ithaca Free Clinic
Ithaca Free Clinic is located at 225
South Fulton Street, Suite B in Ithaca, NY. (link
to map) We're right next door to Agway of Ithaca, and upstairs from Gallagher's Electronics,
Century21 Real Estate, and Soundworks. If you have questions about services or appointments, call 607-330-1254 or email clinic@ithacahealth.org.
We have twice weekly walk-in service hours at the clinic:
 Mondays 2-6pm
Thursdays 4-8pm
Thanks to the dedication of volunteers who share our mission to make health care more accessible
for all, we are able to offer 100% free healthcare services at Ithaca Free Clinic. Our volunteer
professionals provide conventional and holistic medicine to all our visitors. Anyone who does
not have insurance is welcome to come to the free clinic. Those who have insurance that does
not cover a specific service (acupuncture, herbal medicine, nutritional counseling etc) are
welcome to come to IFC for these services.
Some of the healthcare modalities available at IFC are:
- Conventional Medical Care: This is the form of medicine offered by Medical Doctors,
Nurse Practitioners, Physicians Assistants, and Nurses. Also sometimes called biomedical
or allopathic medicine, this is the medical service most well known in the United States,
and most readily available, but often the most difficult for the uninsured to afford. Our
volunteer professionals at IFC are all licensed and accredited within their field of
practice, and are able to diagnose illness and prescribe treatment (including diagnostic
exams, pharmaceuticals, etc.).
- Acupuncture: Acupuncture is a form of medicine developed in Asia, which makes use of
the placement of needles or pressure ("acupressure") at specific points of the body which
are known to affect the body's function through system reflex or affecting energy flow.
Acupuncture can treat a wide variety of disorders, including, but not limited to, acute
and chronic diseases, obstetrical and gynecological diseases, pediatrics, geriatrics,
musculo-skeletal disorders, auto-immune disease, chronic pain, joint diseases, addictions
and substance abuse, etc.
Acupuncture is limited in treating cancer, emergency traumas, acute abdominal
presentations, and cardiac and/or circulatory emergencies.
- Herbal Medicine: Herbalism is the oldest form of medicine practiced by humankind, the
use of medicinal plants and herbal preparations to affect wellness. At Ithaca Free Clinic,
herbal medicine services are offered by Western Clinical Herbalists (we do not have any
practitioners of Traditional Chinese Medicine or Ayurvedic Herbalism who volunteer with
us). Western Clinical Herbalists use a combination of centuries of traditional uses of
medicinal plants and modern medical knowledge to assess clients' well-being on a whole
body level. An herbalist will ask clients about a variety of health subjects including
health history, symptoms, diet and the strengths and weaknesses of how their bodies
function. Through a thorough assessment of how each person's body works, the herbalist will
make recommendations of both herbal formulations and lifestyle modifications which can
improve the health of that individual.
Herbal medicine is well suited to help improve many chronic health complaints, and can
help with the management of infectious disease or healing after injury. Herbalism is not
a licensed medical profession in the United States; our herbalists are credentialed
through extensive education and professional peer review.
- Chiropractic Care
- Massage Therapy
- Nutritional Counselling: Registered Dieticians who volunteer at Ithaca Free Clinic can
provide extensive dietary counselling to our patients. Diet is one of the most fundamental
aspects of health, and how and what we eat can dramatically influence our welfare in the
long and short term. Nutritional advice can be especially important for people with
certain health conserns such as diabetes, obesity, and vitamin deficiencies. Dietary choice
and good diet management can be useful to any patient.
- Physical Therapy
- Facilitated Enrollment into State Insurance Programs: In cooperation with Total Care
(ADD LINK and/or CONTACT), we are able to help visitors at Ithaca Free Clinic to become
enrolled in state insurance programs such as Medicaid, Medicare, Family Health Plus. Our
volunteer insurance advisors can help to provide information about your potential
eligibility for state health insurance. We can then help you to make an appointment with
a facilitated enroller from Total Care who can assist you with the paperwork necessary
to get insured. We will also try to help you find a provider who can work with you as a
primary care provider once you are insured.
Because our facilities are limited, there are some services we simply cannot provide at this
time. Ithaca Free Clinic is not a trauma center. If
you have experienced a serious injury, or have an immediate health crisis, go to the Emergency
Room at the hospital. For blood work and laboratory testing, or diagnostic exams like CAT scans or MRIs, we
must refer patients to other providers who can
perform these tests; our providers can help with the interpretation of test results once they
are received. We cannot provide dental care, although our providers can provide some assistance
with the many health concerns related to oral health. For the actual care of your teeth and
mouth, we must refer patients to dentists. For many specialist services, we do not have the
equipment or volunteer specialists
on hand to assist patients at IFC - these include most medical specialist services. If these
services are required, we can try to help patients with referrals for free or discounted
care from area providers, where possible.
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