Bradley Free Clinic tells Roanoke council patient volume has doubled; clinic names Dr. Robert Brown citizen of the year

Bradley Free Clinic Director Janine Underwood told Roanoke City Council on Dec. 15 that the clinic's patient base has more than doubled in five years and that the organization is seeing rising demand and changing needs among the populations it serves.

Underwood said the clinic cared for nearly 4,000 patients last year and that 70% of those patients are uninsured, a share she said is likely to grow by 2026. She said the clinic's dental department provides nearly 2,000 adult dental visits annually and that behavioral‑health services have increased from about 450 patients in the first year after the program opened to roughly 1,200 last year.

"Integrating behavioral health with primary care isn't optional," Underwood told council, and she described the clinic's Hope peer‑recovery initiative as assisting about 1,000 people per year with an 83% completion rate. She said the clinic works with Roanoke Police, the jail system and fire/EMS on outreach and harm‑reduction efforts and that the clinic was recently named a Southwest Virginia Area Health Education Center site, one of eight in the Commonwealth.

Council honored Dr. Robert Brown as the City of Roanoke's 2025 Citizen of the Year for volunteer service at the clinic, bilingual care and community leadership. The council presented an attested resolution and the key to the city and praised Brown's mentoring of students and weekly volunteer shifts since 2020.

Underwood said the clinic will need continued community support to remain sustainable as demand increases.