Marion County Indigent Care Program

The Marion County Indigent Care System was established to address issues of limited accessibility and availability of primary and specialty health care to the medically underserved, low income, uninsured and underinsured residents of Marion County. This public private partnership, under the auspices of the Indigent Oversight Board provides coordinated health care services that include preventive and comprehensive primary health care, immediate medical care for minor emergencies, specialty physician services, and hospital based inpatient and outpatient services. The indigent Care System provides health care to residents with limited access to care, facilitates cooperation among health care providers in the community, helps promote volunteerism among providers, and conserves valuable resources by reducing unnecessary Emergency Department visits and decreasing inpatient hospitalizations.

The goal of this program is to improve health care accessibility and availability for low income, uninsured and underinsured residents of Marion County.

During its first year, the Indigent Care System provided primary care to 14,000 patients with chronic illnesses through the Marion County Health Department and 15,000 patients were provided medical evaluation and treatment through the episodic care Center (CHS). Through the program 2,000 inpatients and 17,000 outpatients were served by local hospitals and 1,700 patients were referred to specialty physicians.

The program is now in its 12th year and continues to grow with the increase of clients into the system. In the past year 267 physicians volunteered 3553 hours valued at $2.5 million. Physicians volunteering at the CHD (surgery, OB/GYN, podiatry, pulmonology) volunteered 1129 hours valued at $54,700. The Drug Assistance Programs provided medication to more than 10,254 clients, valued at greater than $2 million.