Urgent Care Clinic

The Center for Healing and Hope operates an urgent-care Clinic for people who cannot afford traditional health services. The Clinic is open two evenings a week, with a volunteer staff that includes 11 physicians, 3 nurse practitioners, 21 nurses, 9 translators, and 24 support staff from 17 area congregations.

The Clinic is a point-of-entry into the traditional health system. The Clinic assists people who do not have primary care physicians and assists in locating physicians for their ongoing needs. As a catalyst of change in the greater Goshen community, the Clinic integrates costs into a unified health system that makes patient concerns less of a stigma.

Since its inception, the Center for Healing and Hope has advanced the health care needs of the poor and uninsured. We serve more than 2,000 patients in Goshen, Elkhart, Bristol, Warsaw, New Paris, Milford, Syracuse and Ligonier. About 85 percent of our patients are Hispanic; 36 percent are children.

History and Governance

The Clinic was established in March 1999 at St. John's Catholic Church, Goshen, through the extraordinary vision of a church member, Deacon Ricardo Medina. The program was so effective, even with just one physician and a parish nurse who volunteered to staff it, that soon as many as 45 patients were served one night a week.

When the program outgrew St. John's, other churches in the greater Goshen community caught the vision. A 13-member Board of Directors was established to govern the Center for Healing and Hope. In 2002, space in The Window at 223 Main Street, Goshen, was renovated to accommodate Clinic, providing space for examination rooms, rest rooms, and a pharmacy. Numerous congregations, church organizations, businesses, and individuals provide regular financial support.