Free Community Medical Center
Madison County Illinois

The Community Hope Center was established in April of 1988 as a nonprofit corporation complying with all applicable laws and requirements of federal, state, and local governments.  Our main and primary purpose is to help the poor, homeless, children, and the elderly in Illinois area with programs that meet their individual needs.  The Center is solely supported by local businesses, foundations, private donations, and receives no state funding. It is self-supporting through its own philanthropy efforts.

 The Community Hope Center is a full service crisis emergency center that provides diverse programs which are offered free of charge to those who are less fortunate.  Each program is designed and implemented to help families out of their crisis situations.   In Madison County there are thousands of local people who do not have health care.  Many doctors have had to give up their practices in this county due to the cost of high insurance.  Families on welfare are unable to find doctors who will care for them.  Many local senior citizens are also unable to make the drive to St. Louis Missouri (our closest town where doctors are to be found).

Working with a local doctor, who recently retired, Dr. Ron Schroeder, the Community Hope Center has opened a free medical clinic.  Dr. Schroeder is keeping his license active and is able to write prescriptions. He donates his time to make this available to the less fortunate every week.

Many seniors have expressed what a relief it is to have a place to go locally to be seen by a doctor who can fill their prescriptions.  The Community Hope Center helps over 2500 people a month with free food, clothing and furniture.  Since the “Public Aide Reform Bill” of 1998 the Center has seen the amount of people who come to its door triple.  Those who need the free assistance in order to eat well are seniors, unemployed and handicapped individuals.   Many of these individuals have expressed to us their need to see a doctor but where unable to pay for the visit to one.  This is why the Community Hope Center, along side of Dr. Ron Schroeder, is currently active in establishing this free crisis medical clinic for those who are less fortunate and do not have insurance.

Every Thursday at 10 a.m. the Free Community Medical Center is opened with two nurses also volunteering to help the Dr. Schroeder with his work.  Everyone who is working to make this available to the public are all volunteers, no one will be receiving a salary. The need is great and through the compassion of many concerned citizens the Community Hope Center has an all volunteer staff.  100% of all donations go directly to help families in need.

By The Leader-Metro East Bureau

SWANSEA -- Increasing malpractice insurance fees have caused between 45 to 50 doctors to leave the Downstate Metro-east counties of Madison and St. Clair and the community fears that more are looking for new locations outside the counties.

Kris Huckshold and Sherry Ellison, employees at the Southern Illinois Surgical Consultants in Swansea, took the doctors' plight to the street in hopes of drawing the public’s attention to the serious consequences of losing doctors. Their lunch hour rally drew 200 patients, doctors, nurses and workers in the medical field in an effort to change the dire situation.

Illinois is considered by the American Medical Association as one of eighteen states in crisis.

"The word is that the anesthesiologists at Oliver Anderson Hospital in Maryville and Memorial in Belleville are unable to even renew their insurance. This is serious. How will these hospitals stay open without them? If there are no doctors, we are all out of a job and the public will deprived much needed health care," Huckshold said.

The average cost of malpractice insurance for a pediatrician in St. Clair and Madison counties is $28,824 a year, more than $12,000 higher than elsewhere in the state. An obstetrician-gynecologist pays $139,696 in the county, more than $62,000 higher than other parts of Illinois.

1201 Hope Center Lane - Cottage Hills, Illinois - Phone: 618-259-09598

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