Free Pharmacy at the Free Clinic.

The Rhode Island Free Clinic (RIFC) offers free generic medications to our patients.  Since January 2009, RIFC patients have been able to get their medicines either on-site or through the US Postal Service. This program, which is offered at no cost, provides access to more than 65 generic prescriptions. Name brand drugs can be filled through the Pharmacy Assistance Program (PAP). Controlled substances are not available.

Physicians and their patients can access the Free Pharmacy at their convenience. If the patient is seen at the clinic, physicians simply write a prescription and the patient can have it filled before leaving home. No extra trips to another location and no cost to the patient. If the patient is seen by one of our network physicians, they can fax the prescription to RIFC and it will be filled during the next scheduled clinic visit. The patient can pick up the fulfilled prescription during regular business hours Tuesday or Thursday evening clinics, 6-9:00 p.m. Prescriptions can be phoned in or dropped off anytime during regular business hours. However, if transportation is a problem, it can be mailed to them at no charge.

The Free Pharmacy program is made available through the generous donations of the Chace Family, the Caramadre Foundation, the Rhode Island Foundation, Amica Foundation, Ocean State Charities Trust and the Danforth Foundation. The pharmacy is staffed by volunteers from CVS, Walgreens, Pfizer and the University of Rhode Island.

For more information on this program, please contact us at 401.274.6347 x 303.

Philip Fong, one of Rhode Island Free Clinic’s volunteer pharmacists, finds the experience of providing free medications to uninsured patients to be both rewarding and refreshing. Unlike the retail business, he emphasizes, spending time at RIFC has allowed him to collaborate with other health professionals in the same vicinity. “It’s given me a sense of teamwork with all the other individuals on the site, including the translators, social workers, PAP representatives, and healthcare directors.”

Mr. Fong, who has worked for CVS pharmacy since 1975, is one of twenty-two volunteer pharmacists at RIFC. With their help, we dispensed over 4,400 free prescriptions in 2009 to our low-income patients.

Click here to volunteer!