Food service workers in Mecklenburg County can see a doctor for free this week.
The nonprofit Giving Kitchen has sponsored pop-up clinics for food service workers in Nashville and Atlanta, where the group is based.
The group is bringing a weeklong clinic to Charlotte. People working in restaurants, food trucks, catering, concessions, cafeterias, bars or coffee shops can sign up for a free checkup or consultation, said founder Jen Hidinger-Kendrick.
"Anything from physical exams to diabetic care, to anxiety care, chronic care like high blood pressure or high cholesterol screenings," Hidinger-Kendrick said, describing the service.
Melissa Jones, doctor of family medicine, will provide the checkups. She's a former restaurant worker herself, and said it's tough for many in food service to afford care.
"There are a lot of people that need health care or have something they want to get checked up, they just don't feel like they have any resources to do so," she said.
The weeklong clinic comes as lawmakers in Raleigh delay finalizing the state budget. That means the state's Medicaid expansion has been pushed back.
Expanding the program could give low-cost health insurance to an additional 600,000 people in North Carolina, most of whom have low incomes.
Food service workers can sign up for one of 47 available appointments on the Giving Kitchen website.
