Meeting the health care needs of medically underserved, uninsured, & underinsured Appalachians

Abstract

There is the need for critical changes in the United States health care system to meet the rising costs of health care and the massive number of people without health insurance. The Berea Health Ministry Rural Health Clinic (BHMRHC) is a nurse-managed, rural primary health care clinic that was designed to respond to the health care needs of the underserved, uninsured, and underinsured populations in a designated nine county area of Appalachian Kentucky. The process used in the development and implementation of BHMRHC is described as a model to assist in the future development of similar clinics.