With Fewer Clients, Gwinnett Community Clinic to Close Its Doors

Gwinnett Community Clinic will close its doors this fall, its executive director said in a statement emailed Thursday.

The non-profit clinic in Snellville has been providing low-cost healthcare to the uninsured and indigent residents of Gwinnett County since 1989, but executive director Sheila C. Adcock said the number of clients has been declining recently due to Obamacare.

“Since the rollout of the Affordable Care Act and open enrollment for Obamacare insurance, Gwinnett Community Clinic has realized a significant decrease in enrollment and requests for services,” Adcock said in a statement. “Effective immediately, no new patient enrollments are being accepted. Current patients may update their qualification for service through October 1. The last clinical appointments will be for October 15, 2015.”

The non-profit charitable clinic is located at 2160 Fountain Drive in Snellville, on the Eastside Medical Center’s South Campus.

Clinic Board of Directors President Pam Kramer told the Gwinnett Daily Post it was bittersweet to see the clinic close because it also mean more people are getting access to health care. She said around 30 percent of the clinic’s patients were able to receive government insurance and were no longer eligible for services.

The clinic will officially close on Dec. 14, its 26th anniversary, Kramer told the Post. Existing patients will be referred to the Hope Clinic in Lawrenceville.

Through a partnership with Eastside and volunteer doctors, nurses and support staff, the clinic was able to provide more than $5 million each year in primary care and chronic disease management, Adcock said.

The clinic was funded by United Way of Greater Atlanta, Kaiser Foundation, Georgia Baptist Healthcare Ministry Foundation, private donations and grants and other supporters.