With recent renovations complete, a Shenandoah County free health clinic is able to treat county residents of all ages.

“We do what we can, where ever we can,” said Pam Murphy, executive director of the Shenandoah Community Health Clinic.

When the Shenandoah South Wellness Center opened last fall at Ashby Lee Elementary School, staff were providing free medical, mental, and dental care to students at Shenandoah County’s Southern Campus in Quicksburg, Va. But after a summer of renovations, the clinic is now seeing adults as well as children.

“The other day, I came home and I said, ‘I saw a child four years old and an adult 84 years old,” said nurse practitioner Regina Wardwell. “And about 15 people in between.”

The expansion comes as staff recognized the dire need for a free clinic in the southern part of the county. Their Woodstock location about 20 miles north of the Quicksburg clinic. Staff say that distance presents challenges for clients.

“Believe it or not, I hear so many patients tell me they didn’t come back to get their blood pressure checked, diabetes checked, pick up meds, because they couldn’t afford the gas to go from New Market to Woodstock,” said Wardwell.

Murphy agreed.

“We don’t have any mass transportation in this county and that is a huge problem,” she said.

Thanks to donations from local businesses and individuals, the clinic now has two exam rooms, a counseling office, and a miniature laboratory.

Staff say it’s just in time, as they anticipate an increase in patients as Medicaid expands in January.

“It’s predicted over 4,000 people in this county are going to qualify for that Medicaid service and there won’t be doctors that can take 4,000 more patients,” said Murphy. “So we’re trying to step up and be prepared for that as well.”

With 20 paid staff members and another 20 volunteers, clinic staff say they’re ready to fill the gaps in coverage in the area.