If only we had a health care system that didn't cost an arm and a leg to go to that didn't require going to a clinic where you never know how things are going to turn out (free clinics are usually pretty minimal on what can be done, and don't exactly have the best docs in the biz available). But I will look into the clinics that I did not realize we had, because I'm about 8 years due for my annual check up.
Actually most of those clinics are staffed by the same docs and dentists you find at your local emergency rooms and clinics. They "moonlight" at places like Community Health and others because the pay is excellent for only having to work about 4-6 hours, and they don't have to put up with the BS from insurance companies or the hospitals. Most of the free clinics also have their own X-Ray and lab equipment, and the nurses are trained to use it. So instead of some orderly taking you to the other end of a hospital to get an x-ray, or the doc sending you to another department, it is done and read immediately. Quick diagnosis, instant results, and no one breathing down their necks. The docs love it.
Services are free if you meet the threshold, but otherwise they charge cash at the counter and are typically extremely reasonable (significantly less expensive than the same care by the same physician in a hospital).
