Many people in the Valley who don't have health insurance will soon have a new place to go for care.

Organizers say the Page Free Clinic will open in February. According to the clinic's Website, the goal is to care for those who do not have access to health insurance and do not qualify for Medicare or Medicaid.

Stephen MacDonald runs a flooring business out of his home in Page County. Like many people in the county, the recession has hurt him.

He doesn't have much cash to spare.

"I need the money each and every day just to survive," says MacDonald.

He says he can't spend that money on health coverage. Even if he gets sick, he just doesn't go to a doctor.

"For me to have any kind of health insurance that would do me any good at all would cost me $600 to $700 a month, and then would only help me if I am dying in the hospital," says MacDonald.

Dr. Arsheeya Mashaw works in Luray. He's starting the free clinic with the hope of helping people like MacDonald.

"The need is absolutely out there. When we get more volunteers and resources, for sure we'll be able to serve those patients better," says Mashaw.

Estimates from a variety of governmental sources and the clinic's organizers put the rate of uninsured people in Page County somewhere between 16 and 18 percent. Some of those estimates are from before the start of the recession.

Since then unemployment has spiked in the county.

"And if you're unemployed, that generally means you are uninsured," says Mashaw.

The emergency room is sometimes the only place for uninsured people to go, creating a ripple effect for others needing emergency services.

"A lot of their time and energy is misused, and that's one of the reasons emergency rooms have such long waits and are overutilized as it is now," says Mashaw.

Mashaw says the clinic will offer people a chance to see a health care professional on a regular basis and provide better long-term care.

"A free clinic would be a blessing for me in some ways, but for a lot of people I know around here in big ways," says MacDonald.

The clinic's organizers are in the final steps of getting a site secured. At first, the clinic will be open Friday evenings starting some time in February.

Community need and the number of volunteers will affect whether it opens more often than that.