Student-run Horizons Community Clinic helps Cleveland patients find care—and a path forward

At Horizons Community Clinic, care might begin with an immediate need for treatment, but the impact of that care extends far beyond an appointment—both for the patients it serves and for the medical students who run it.

Open Monday evenings to anyone in the Cleveland community—even, and especially, the uninsured—Horizons Community Clinic provides patients with free healthcare services such as physical exams and lab work performed by MD students at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine.

But student volunteers go further: They help patients explore insurance options through Medicaid and other assistance programs, and connect them with social services such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and additional Ohio public benefits.

That extra effort is what makes Horizons Community Clinic stand out. The clinic was built on the idea that healthcare should do more than meet urgent needs; it should help people have a clearer path toward continuity of care and therefore better quality of life.

Student volunteer Meera Rajeev describes that impact best: "Patients with chronic conditions need long-term relationships with a provider, which a pop-up clinic simply can't sustain. We provide the vital point-of-care testing and immediate diagnoses patients need, but we don't stop there. Horizons doesn't just fill the healthcare gap; it actively works to close it by ensuring every patient walks out with a plan or the resources to gain stable, long-term coverage."

Run by medical students like Rajeev under the supervision of attending physicians, Horizons is also shaping the next generation of healthcare leaders. Students serve as intake volunteers, clinicians and phlebotomists, gaining hands-on experience in patient interviewing, physical exams and care planning well before those opportunities typically arise in the traditional curriculum. In the process, they are learning not only how to practice medicine, but how to understand the systems and barriers that keep some patients from receiving critical care.

"Observing and participating in the health insurance counseling aspect of patient visits at Horizons has been incredibly eye-opening. If I want my patients to make informed decisions about their health, I have to be informed enough to help them figure it out," said Rajeev. "Furthermore, the clinic is invaluable for honing the core clinical skills we are tested on and expected to master before graduation, and practicing them here makes me a much more confident and well-rounded future clinician."

The clinic’s impact on the community is already tangible. Horizons has helped dozens of patients access care they might otherwise have gone without. In one especially meaningful case, clinic volunteers worked with a patient over several months to help them obtain health coverage, complete their medical workup and ultimately become eligible for a liver transplant—an example of how sustained support can change the course of a life.

"The beauty of Cleveland lies in the beautiful diaspora of people who call this city home," Rajeev reflected. "But when our health systems fail to protect those who are struggling financially, we risk losing the very people who make our community whole. When you help them become healthier and achieve stability, you unlock their individual potential to make our city a better, more vibrant place. Ultimately, supporting Horizons is supporting Cleveland."