The Guadalupe Free Clinic is a medical free clinic serving the indigent and medically-uninsured population of
Westmoreland County and the Town of Colonial Beach, on the Northern Neck of Virginia, southeast of Fredericksburg.
Founded in 2004, the Guadalupe Free Clinic operates as part of St. Elizabeth of Hungary Catholic Church in Colonial
Beach and is staffed solely by volunteers.
A July 2004 report in the Washington Post revealed that nearly 25 percent of the residents of the town of Colonial
Beach live at or below the federal poverty line. Nearly 33 percent and perhaps up to 40 percent of the town residents
maintain no medical insurance.
There is no free clinic between Fredericksburg, Virginia and Kilmarnock, Virginia on the Northern Neck. The distance
between the two municipalities is approximately 95 miles, each of which maintains a free clinic. However, residents of
Colonial Beach and of surrounding Westmoreland County are not eligible to receive medical care in either Fredericksburg
or in Kilmarnock due to these free clinics’ eligibility limitations and regulations.
Another factor contributing to the need for a free clinic in Colonial Beach is the ever-growing Hispanic population. Religious leaders in the Northern Neck
commonly believe that there are approximately 7,000 Hispanics that live in this section of Virginia. A significant percentage of this population is not
medically insured due to illegal immigration status or lack of full-time employment status that includes health benefits. This provides the Clinic
with a unique opportunity to serve a segment of the population that typically does not have access to low-cost or free health care.
