NORFOLK, Va. — A new online tool called Front Door is now available to help uninsured adults in South Hampton Roads find free and affordable healthcare.
Front Door connects users with free and low-cost medical and dental services. It can also help people find behavioral health services and prescription assistance.
Users answer a few short questions online, and the system matches them with a local clinic or community resource based on their needs.
According to the Greater Hampton Roads Community Dashboard, nearly 9% of adults ages 18 to 64 in South Hampton Roads do not have health insurance.
The Norfolk Department of Public Health helped develop the platform. Health officials say they hope thousands of people in the community who may need the service will be able to get routine visits they've had to miss or refill important medications.
"Interestingly, the gap that this fills is for someone who may not have health insurance but doesn't know where to go. Some people may just go to the ER because they've run out of their medicines, but that's not what the ER is for," explaind Giriois.
Dr. Susan Girois, Director of the Norfolk Department of Health says, the tool is designed to fill a gap for people who don't know where to turn when they're uninsured.
"The ER is where I want to be able to take my father or my neighbor if they're having a heart attack or stroke or there's been an accident. That's what I want the ER for. So, we're trying to create a way for people to really get non-emergent medicine refills, quick checkups, even mammograms and Pap smears, without having to go through the ER or call 911," Girois said.
The site soft-launched this month. Health experts say this type of platform does not currently exist in the area.
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