Dr. Gary Burnstein Community Health Clinic Offers Comprehensive Care to Uninsured in Pontiac
Lindsay Knake
| 4 min read
Lindsay Knake is a brand journalist for Blue Cross B...
The Gary Burnstein Community Health Clinic is a one-stop-shop for high quality health care for Michiganders who don’t have health insurance.
With comprehensive services and an active group of volunteers, the community in and around Pontiac is well cared for.
“It’s important to us that our patients receive the care they need when they need it in a way that’s meaningful to them,” said Mary Lewis, the Gary Burnstein Community Health Clinic chief executive officer. “We pride ourselves on the one-stop-shop approach.”
The clinic offers internal medicine, cardiology, neurology, dermatology, gynecology, gastroenterology, podiatry, optometry, ophthalmology and dentistry care for low-income and uninsured Michigan residents age 18 to 64. Clinics like the Burnstein Community Health Clinic that provide free health care to the people without health insurance reduce visits to emergency rooms and ensure health care costs remain lower for all Michiganders.
The Burnstein Community Health Clinic, which has been serving Michiganders since 1997, started in a homeless shelter in Pontiac. In 2015, the clinic opened a 7,000-square-foot facility with examination rooms and a full-service pharmacy. The clinic is named for Dr. Gary Burnstein, who started offering health services at the shelter and later founded the free clinic.
The comprehensive nature of the Bernstein Community Health Clinic means a patient could, for example, see multiple doctors on the same visit for eye care and diabetes management and get a three-month supply of medication, Lewis said.
In 2024, the clinic had nearly 5,000 visits and gave away more than $1.4 million in medical care, nearly $950,000 in dental care, $1 million in medications and more than $200,000 in lab and imaging services. About 90% of patients at the Burnstein Community Health Clinic are uninsured. The services this clinic offers benefits the entire health care system by providing preventive care, helping people avoid expensive emergency room visits and reducing overall health care costs.
Patients most often come in for diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular disease. In the past two years, however, more patients are coming in for routine physical examinations.
Active volunteers and patient success
The Burnstein Community Health Clinic has 11 staff members and more than 600 active volunteers. The volunteers donated more than 18,000 hours of service, an estimated value of more than $1 million.
“They are amazing, amazing people,” Lewis said. “They are actively engaged. I have providers who are here twice a week.”
Volunteers include nurses, doctors, dentists, pharmacists, lab technicians, medical support staff and dental assistants. Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine students run a free clinic on Tuesday and Thursday evenings.
“The work is really impactful and meaningful to the community that wouldn’t have access to health care otherwise,” Lewis said.
Lewis described two recent success stories from the clinic. Last year, a woman came to the clinic in tears. She had no teeth and had lost her health insurance before she could get dentures. The woman’s goal, Lewis said, was to take a photo with her family at Christmas. On Dec. 23, a volunteer dentist delivered a pair of dentures to her, and she took the photo with her family.
Another success story involves a young woman who was diagnosed with breast cancer on a Thursday. By Monday, the Gary Burnstein Community Health Clinic staff and volunteers had made her appointments for treatment, including chemotherapy. The clinic’s case coordinator also helped her find resources to help with rent, groceries and utilities as she underwent treatment.
The clinic’s case coordinator helps patients manage their medical care and helps connect them with other community organizations to find housing, food and other resources.
The Burnstein Community Health Clinic is a recipient of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan’s Strengthening the Safety Net Program and has received $387,000 since 2008. The work of the Strengthening the Safety Net program helps to make health care more affordable for everyone in Michigan.
“Our partnership with BCBSM is so valuable to the work we do. We are able to purchase supplies and provide education to our patients in a way that is meaningful to them,” Lewis said. “It allows us to not have to worry about having the resources we need to deliver great care. For us, that’s invaluable.”
The Burnstein Community Health Clinic is always looking for volunteers.
“If you can stuff an envelope, if you can make a phone call, if you believe that everyone has the right to great health care regardless of their ability to pay for it, the Burnstein clinic is for you,” Lewis said.
Images: Burnstein Community Health Clinic
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