GoochlandCares Clinic Serves Uninsured Residents, Seeks Volunteers and Donations

Goochland County holds two distinctions that pull in opposite directions: it ranks as the second fastest growing county in Virginia and, by the state's own measure, its largest disparity county, with one of the widest gulfs between wealthy and low-income households anywhere in the commonwealth. For residents living on the wrong side of that gap, GoochlandCares' free medical clinic at 2999 River Road West has become the difference between managing a chronic illness and going untreated.

The clinic now delivers more than 4,000 medical, dental and mental health visits a year to uninsured and low-income adults across Goochland and neighboring Louisa, Fluvanna and Cumberland counties. It opened in 2000 with one part-time nurse practitioner, an $89,000 annual budget, and a first night that produced 11 patient visits and 22 extracted teeth. Twenty-five years later, it operates from a 20,000-square-foot campus built through an $8 million capital campaign, offering services that now span chronic disease management, cancer screenings, mammograms, Pap tests, diagnostic testing and specialist referrals coordinated with area hospitals and health systems.

Volunteer clinicians make that range of care possible. Retired nephrologist Dr. Bruce Silverman is among the doctors, nurses and specialists from across the Richmond region who donate their time to see patients week after week. The clinic is actively seeking additional volunteer medical professionals to meet demand.

The supply inventory needs attention right now. GoochlandCares is currently accepting donations of allergy medications, Tylenol, digital thermometers, finger pulse oximeters and OMRON upper arm blood pressure monitors (Series 3). These items directly affect how quickly the clinic can respond to acute care requests and how many patients it can serve on a given day.

Andrea Ahonen, who became CEO in August 2024 following founding executive director Sally Graham's 25-year tenure, has pointed to the county's rapid growth and persistent wealth inequality as forces that make the clinic's safety-net role more critical, not less.

To qualify, patients must be Goochland County residents aged 18 or older with no health insurance and an annual income at or below 250 percent of the federal poverty level, roughly $37,650 for a single adult. Uninsured residents of Louisa, Fluvanna and Cumberland counties who fall between 200 and 300 percent of that threshold may also qualify for clinic services. Call 804-556-6260 to schedule a new patient intake.

The clinic is open Monday, Wednesday and Thursday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Tuesday from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Friday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Supply donations can be dropped off at the River Road West location during those hours; clinicians interested in volunteering can apply through the organization's website at goochlandcares.org.