older make less than US$10,000 a year. In a 1992-1997 survey of the Charlottesville Free Clinic, the patient body consists largely of a low income working class that reflects the demographics of the Charlottesville area. Most of the patients reported that without the free clinic, they would either seek the emergency room or do nothing at all if they got sick. There has been a shift over the years from patients seeking urgent care to patients seeking treatment for chronic illnesses. Combined, these factors suggest that free clinics will require additional resources in order to meet the rising demands of their patient population. In a study of the Miami Rescue Mission Clinic in Florida, the most common conditions were mental health, circulatory system, and musculoskeletal system disorder. The most common of the mental health disorders were depressive disorders and anxiety disorders. Throughout multiple studies about patient demographics in metropolitan settings, there was a higher than national average prevalence of mental health disorder, obesity, diabetes, and smoking in free clinic patients. Operation and services Some free clinics specialize in providing primary care (acute care), while others focus on long-term chronic health issues, and many do both. Most free clinics start out seeing patients only one or two days per week, and then expand as they find additional volunteers. Because they rely on volunteers, most are only open a few hours per day; primarily in the late afternoon and early evening. Some free clinics are faith-based, meaning they are sponsored by and affiliated with a specific church or religious denomination, or they are interfaith and draw support from several different denominations or religions. Free clinics rely on donations for financial support. The amount of money they take in through donations to a large degree determines how many patients they are able to see. Because they are unlikely to have the resources to see everyone who might need their help, they usually limit who they are willing to see to just those from their own community and the surrounding areas, and especially in chronic care will only see patients from within a limited set of medical conditions. Free clinics function as health care safety nets for patients who cannot afford or access other forms of healthcare. They provide essential services regardless of the patient's ability to pay. Hospital emergency rooms are required by federal law to treat everyone regardless of their ability to