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Community Care Clinic


WSSU Physical Therapy Clinic Services

DPT Students in Community Care Clinic

Through a North Carolina Albert Schweitzer Fellowship in 2009, Winston-Salem State University’s (WSSU) Department of Physical Therapy initiated a free physical therapy clinic housed within the Community Care Center of Winston-Salem, which services the medically uninsured and underserved residents of Forsyth, Stokes and Davie counties of North Carolina. The Community Care Center is the largest free medical clinic in North Carolina. It was formed in 2000 by local volunteer physicians. The WSSU Physical Therapy (PT) clinic operates Wednesday mornings, from 9:00 AM until noon, by physical therapy students who are supervised by faculty members. The PT clinic is one of only three free University PT clinics in North Carolina, serving over 300 patient visits per year. Students participate in the provision of care from the second semester in the program, until completion of all pre-clinical coursework. An average of 8-10 students are involved in the provision of care every week.

About the Community Care Center

Patients at the Community Care Center (CCC) are of low socioeconomic status (500 to 1000 percent below the federal poverty level) and are from Forsyth, Stokes, and Davie counties. The CCC serves approximately 3,800 discrete, mostly minority (mostly Hispanic and African American) patients per year, with over 17,000 patient visits per year. Over 60 percent of the patients are female and over 70 percent are below 100% of the federal poverty level. Patients do not have insurance and are typically medically complex. Without the CCC, these patients would not have access to preventative care or PT services. To be eligible for services at the CCC, a family's income must be below 200% of the federal poverty level and individuals must be uninsured. To be eligible to become a patient at CCC, potential patients must go through a financial screening and provide documentation of family assets, income and expenses.

Contact Information

Community Care Center
2135 New Walkertown Road
Winston-Salem, NC 27101
336-723-7904

Contact Dr. Nancy Smith for more information on the Community Care Center or WSSU PT Clinic services.