Shepherd’s Hope names Raquel McCormick CEO, expands free care reach

Shepherd’s Hope is betting that a new leader and a larger patient target can widen free care for uninsured families across Seminole County and Central Florida. The nonprofit named Raquel “Rocky” McCormick as president and chief executive officer on June 8, and she is taking over as the organization pushes to move from nearly 6,000 patients served at no cost in 2025 to 10,000 a year.

That growth would mean about 4,000 additional patients a year, a substantial jump for a safety-net clinic network that already serves residents who often have nowhere else to turn. McCormick, the first Hispanic leader in Shepherd’s Hope’s history, comes to the role after leadership posts at Pace Center for Girls Orange, Cornerstone Hospice Foundation and Heart of Florida United Way. Her message is direct: families should never have to choose between seeing a doctor and keeping the lights on.

Shepherd’s Hope says its mission has been building for nearly 30 years. The idea began in 1996 at St. Luke’s United Methodist Church in Orlando, and the first health center opened on Feb. 14, 1997. Since then, the organization says it has provided more than 360,000 free medical visits and patient services and now operates multiple centers in Central Florida, with care connected to Orange and Seminole counties and telehealth.

Access still depends on a tight eligibility screen. Patients must be uninsured, have income at or below 300% of the federal poverty level and not be eligible for government-assisted health care programs. Shepherd’s Hope says the model relies heavily on volunteers, with one profile noting more than 1,800 volunteers and another saying more than 2,700 licensed medical and patient-service volunteers support care.

The stakes are visible in individual cases. One patient, Priscilla, came to Shepherd’s Hope after a friend urged her to seek help. Staff connected her with a volunteer physician, then a specialist network found a massive fibroid that threatened her ability to have children. Through referrals to a surgeon and partner health systems, her uterus was saved and she later learned she was pregnant.

The need extends beyond one clinic system. Florida’s Volunteer Health Care Provider Program reported 476,861 health care services statewide in fiscal year 2024-25, delivered through 214 locations in 50 counties. For Seminole County families who delay treatment because they cannot afford it, Shepherd’s Hope’s expansion is less a ceremony than a measure of whether more people can finally get care before a problem becomes a crisis.