Q: Who is eligible for the Clinic’s services?
A: The Clinic serves low-income patients (under $24,000 per year) who are without health insurance. 

Q: How does the Clinic determine eligibility?
A: Before the appointment, the Malta Clinic directs the patient to a health insurance navigator, who is trained to determine whether the patient is eligible for insurance. The navigator can help the patient enroll in health insurance if the patient is eligible. Only patients who are without insurance and low-income are eligible for Clinic services. 

Q: Does the Clinic charge for its services?
A: No. The Clinic’s services are free to previously-screened patients who are low-income and lack health insurance. 

Q: How can a patient set up an appointment?
A: Services are provided by appointment only, following a determination of eligibility. Call 313-894-2240 to make an appointment. 

Q: What services does the Clinic provide?
A: The Clinic provides a variety of dental and medical services. Dental: examinations, x-rays, fillings, teeth cleanings, dentures and partials, extractions, referrals. Medical: general clinic care, physical exams, blood pressure screening, wound care, urine analysis, urine pregnancy tests, diabetic supplies/medicine, asthma supplies/medicine, generic medications refills, vitamins, outpatient referrals, and periodic eye clinics. All these services are at no cost to eligible patients.

Q: When and how often will the eye clinic take place?
A: The last Tuesday of each month. In addition, an eye screening clinic with a doctor who is a member of the Order of Malta is offered twice a year, in April and October. 

Q: What is the Malta Dental and Medical Clinic?
A: We are a clinic that serves low-income, uninsured patients at no cost. The Clinic was launched in 2004 from the basement of St. Leo’s Catholic Church in Detroit, where members of the Order of Malta were serving lunch to the homeless. Bishop Thomas Gumbleton, the pastor of St. Leo’s, approached the Malta members and told them how desperately the poor and homeless in Detroit needed health care. In response, members of the Order of Malta founded the Clinic, which to date has served over 15,000 uninsured, low-income patients. 

Q: How does the Clinic operate?
A: Our volunteer-driven model of care makes it possible for the Clinic to serve eligible patients at no cost to them. In the first quarter of 2022, over 350 volunteers provided 1,258 hours of their time. All care at the Clinic is provided by volunteers who are licensed health care professionals: Doctors, dentists, dental hygienists, nurses, and physician assistants. Assisting them are students from the University of Detroit School of Mercy, the Wayne State University Eugene Applebaum College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, Wayne State University School of Medicine, and the Wayne County Community College dental hygiene program. The Clinic also relies on donations and grants. For every dollar spent, the Clinic provides almost three times that amount in value of services. 

Q: What is the Order of Malta?
A: Formally titled “Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of St. John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta,” the Order of Malta is a worldwide, lay religious order of the Roman Catholic Church. Dating back to approximately 1050 A.D. with the founding of a hospice for pilgrims, the Order provides humanitarian assistance, and medical and social services, in over 110 countries.