Free and income-based health care centers in New York.
Free and low cost medical care in New York runs through a few separate systems. Sliding fee community health centers operate hundreds of sites across the state, from large networks such as Sun River Health in the Hudson Valley to Hudson Headwaters Health Network in the Adirondacks. New York City runs the largest public hospital system in the country, with a program called NYC Care for people who cannot get insurance. Volunteer free clinics and county health departments fill in more gaps.
This guide explains how each system works, names the major networks by region, and gives the official locator tools that list every site in the state. It also connects to the NHPB local clinic guides for five New York counties. Readers who need dental care instead can use the NHPB guide to free and low cost dental clinics in New York, which covers dental schools, Medicaid dentists, and reduced fee dental programs.
How sliding fee health centers work in New York
Community health centers are nonprofit medical offices funded by the federal government to treat everyone, with or without insurance. New York has one of the largest health center systems in the country, with hundreds of sites in cities, small towns, and rural areas. Fees are set on a sliding scale based on household income and family size. Patients with very low income may pay little or nothing for a visit. Most centers offer primary care, and many may also provide behavioral health, dental, vision, or pharmacy services depending on the site.
Staff at these centers can also help people apply for Medicaid, the Essential Plan, or Child Health Plus while they receive care. The Community Health Care Association of New York State runs a map of every health center site in the state at https://www.chcanys.org/find-health-center. The federal government runs its own locator at https://findahealthcenter.hrsa.gov. The NHPB guide to federally qualified and rural health clinics explains the sliding fee rules in more detail.
Health center networks in upstate New York
Hudson Headwaters Health Network is the main safety net provider for the Adirondacks and the Glens Falls area. Call (518) 761-0300 or find a site at https://www.hhhn.org. The network covers Warren County and parts of Clinton, Essex, Franklin, Hamilton, Saratoga, and Washington counties, and it is the only medical provider in much of that region. Community Health Center of the North Country serves the St. Lawrence County area from Canton and can be reached at (315) 379-8100, with all of its sites listed on the CHCANYS map.
In the Capital Region, Whitney M. Young, Jr. Health Center provides medical, dental, and behavioral health care on a sliding fee scale at centers in Albany, Troy, and Watervliet. Call (518) 465-4771 or visit https://www.wmyhealth.org.
In central New York, Syracuse Community Health serves the city of Syracuse at (315) 476-7921. ConnextCare runs health centers across Oswego County and nearby rural towns at (315) 298-6564. Utica residents may get sliding fee medical and dental care from Mosaic Health at https://mosaichealth.org or from Upstate Family Health Center at (315) 624-9470.
In the Finger Lakes and western New York, Finger Lakes Community Health began as a health center for farmworkers and now treats everyone in the region. Call (315) 781-8448 or visit https://www.localcommunityhealth.com. Oak Orchard Health serves rural communities and agricultural workers west of Rochester at (585) 637-3905. The Chautauqua Center covers the Jamestown area in the far southwest corner of the state at (716) 484-4334. Rochester area residents can find city clinics in the NHPB guide to free clinics in Monroe County. People near Buffalo can use the NHPB guide to community clinics in Erie County.
Health centers in the Hudson Valley and on Long Island
Sun River Health is the largest community health center network in the state, with sites across the Hudson Valley, Long Island, and New York City. Call (844) 400-1975 or find a location at https://www.sunriver.org. The network treats patients regardless of insurance and offers a sliding fee program along with a billing calculator on its site. Cornerstone Family Healthcare serves Newburgh, Middletown, and surrounding Orange County communities, with medical, dental, and behavioral health care. Call (845) 563-8000 or visit https://cornerstonefamilyhealthcare.org.
The Institute for Family Health runs family health centers in Dutchess and Ulster counties as well as New York City, and no one is turned away over ability to pay. New patients can call (844) 434-2778 or use https://institute.org. Westchester County residents have their own set of local options in the NHPB guide to clinics and health centers in Westchester County.
New York City public hospitals and NYC Care
NYC Health + Hospitals is the public hospital system for the five boroughs, and it also runs a large group of neighborhood health centers. No patient is denied care because they cannot pay. Financial counselors help people apply for insurance or for the system's own discount programs at (844) 692-4692. People who do not qualify for any insurance, including undocumented residents, may enroll in NYC Care, which assigns a primary care doctor and provides services at low or no cost. Call 1-646-692-2273 or visit https://www.nyccare.nyc to enroll.
Dozens of nonprofit health center networks also operate across the boroughs, and the locator tools in this guide list each site. The NHPB guide to community clinics in New York City covers the city in more detail.
Free clinics run by volunteers
A smaller group of New York clinics are true free clinics, staffed by volunteer doctors and nurses and focused on adults with no insurance. The Ithaca Free Clinic offers free medical care and wellness services during limited weekly sessions and can be reached at (607) 330-1254. The Oneonta Community Health Center provides free primary care to uninsured adults in the Oneonta area by appointment at (607) 433-0300, with details at https://oneontahealthcenter.org. In the North Country, the Massena Free Clinic for Adults sees patients during very limited weekly hours at (315) 769-8017.
In Binghamton, the Adult Community Free Clinic at UHS Primary Care treats adults who cannot get insurance or afford care. Patients are screened for eligibility by phone at (607) 762-3281, and details are posted at https://www.nyuhs.org. Medical schools in the largest cities also run student staffed free clinics under physician supervision, generally one day a week. Schedules for these programs change often, so call before going. More volunteer clinics are listed in the national directory of the National Association of Free and Charitable Clinics at https://nafcclinics.org.
County health departments and public health clinics
New York delivers public health services through county health departments, with more than fifty local departments across the state. Depending on the county, a health department may offer immunizations, tuberculosis services, testing and treatment for sexually transmitted infections, lead screening, and family health programs at low or no cost. Services differ widely from one county to the next, so call before visiting. The state lists every local health department with contact information at https://www.health.ny.gov/prevention/public_health_works/local_health_departments.htm.
Mental health care and crisis help
Anyone in a mental health crisis can call, text, or chat 988 at any time. For ongoing counseling or psychiatric care, most of the health center networks in this guide offer behavioral health on the same sliding fee terms as medical care. The state Office of Mental Health also runs a directory of licensed mental health programs, searchable by county, at https://omh.ny.gov.
Help with insurance, hospital bills, and medications
Many people who use free or sliding fee clinics also qualify for Medicaid, the Essential Plan, or Child Health Plus, and clinic staff can help with those applications. More state programs are covered in the NHPB guide to assistance programs for uninsured in New York. Anyone facing a hospital bill can read the NHPB guide to charity care under the New York Hospital Financial Assistance Law, since every hospital in the state must offer discounts to lower income patients.
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