A description of patient characteristics, insurance status and travel distance at a free inner-city clinic.

This study was designed to investigate patient characteristics at Amaus Health Services at Cathedral, a free medical clinic in Syracuse, New York which provides interim primary health care to the underserved and uninsured populations in the downtown area of Syracuse. The mission of the clinic is to serve an inner-city population. This study found that the clinic sees equal numbers of men and women and half of the visits were for chronic disease management. Patients traveled from 33 different zip codes, most of which were outside of the intended service area. In addition, of the 278 visits, 50 clinic users reported having some form of insurance. These findings can help Amaus leadership direct volunteers and donations to enhance the services provided, and may assist other areas of the country to identify needs for enhanced access as changes occur in the health care system.