AN ACADEMIC HEALTH-CENTER COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP - THE MORGANTOWN HEALTH RIGHT FREE CLINIC

This article reports the main findings of a descriptive study of the o rigin, structure, and evolution of the Morgantown Health Right (MHR) f ree clinic in Morgantown, West Virginia. The study was conducted betwe en 1984 and 1995 to examine the organizational and operational feature s of this rural academic health center-community partnership. The MHR' s longevity and provision of primary care without charge to low-income , uninsured, and underinsured residents of north central West Virginia are a function of its intimate relationship with the Robert C. Byrd H ealth Sciences Center of West Virginia University. Essential elements of this rural academic health center-community partnership include soc ial commitment and voluntarism, shared community and faculty leadershi p, joint problem-oriented long-term planning, and interdisciplinary pr actice and training opportunities for faculty, residents, and students . Financial support for the MHR comes from a variety of public and pri vate sources, and the clinic serves as a prototypic rural free health care provider by virtues of its social and fiscal sustainability. The MHR experience shows that, like inner-city counterparts, academic heal th center-community partnerships can enhance access to health care for rural underserved populations.