Updated as of 5:55 p.m. on May 1 to include video.

Inside the Masjid Mosque, tucked away in Burlington, uninsured patients find something increasingly rare: completely free healthcare. 

The Al-Aqsa Community Clinic offers medical exams, lab tests, medications and specialist referrals, all funded by donations, mosque support and partnerships with local hospitals.

Founded in 2009 by Amal Khdour, who is the coordinator, the clinic was created after Khdour noticed the medical struggles of refugee families. What started as a small operation with one doctor and donated medicines quickly expanded to serve patients from across the Triad, including Greensboro, Winston-Salem and Raleigh.

“I thought it would just be for refugees,” Khdour said. “When we announced it publicly, I was surprised by the amount of people who are not refugees, and they are not Muslims.”



Dr. Muhammad Arida, an interventional cardiologist at Cone Health who volunteers at the clinic, emphasized the risks of untreated medical conditions for uninsured patients.

“We know that healthcare is very expensive in this country,” Arida said. “For refugees, they don’t have access to regular healthcare, and so they rely on emergency rooms, which is not ideal. We try to provide them with the care they need before their conditions worsen. Emergency rooms are not the place for chronic health issues.”

For uninsured patients in North Carolina, even routine medical care can be costly. According to Sidecar Health, regular doctor visits, including any necessary lab work or imaging, can cost nearly $400 out of pocket while specialist consultations, such as orthopedic surgeons, range from $87 to $122.

Liya Rike | Elon News Network

The Al-Aqsa Community in Burlington, North Carolina on April 26.

At the clinic, patients receive exams, blood work and medications. For specialized care, Khdour  said they collaborate with hospitals like UNC Medical Center, Duke University Hospital and Cone Health to ensure patients receive the treatment they need at no cost. LabCorp donates lab services, Greensboro Imaging provides free X-rays and Cone Health contributes an electronic medical record system.

“We try to make sure when they leave here, they have their medication, their lab work, their appointment — everything,” Khdour said. “Because we’re not making money here. We want to make sure when they come, they’ve been taken care of one hundred percent.”

The clinic’s pharmacy, operated by volunteers — including Elon University students — also provides medications free of charge. Arida said providing free medications is essential to many patients' well-being.

“The most rewarding thing is that we’re able to give them these medications,” Arida said. “And 90 percent of these medications we’re able to offer from our own pharmacy.”

Many patients at the clinic have complex medical conditions, such as diabetes, hypertension and cancer, and are often unaware of their illnesses. Khdour said the clinic has discovered numerous cases of cancer among patients who had no idea they were sick.

“We discovered a lot of patients have cancer and they are unaware they have cancer,” Khdour said. “They thought it was because of their diabetes or their blood pressure. When we ran some tests, we found out they had cancer — some stage four, some stage one, but we were able to save their life.”

While the clinic’s success has grown, city zoning limits them to operating three days a month. 

“They gave us three days,” Khdour said. “If we need it, we can go back and ask for the fourth one. We've been using those three days, but soon we’re going to go back to the city.”

Liya Rike | Elon News Network

Dr. Muhammad Arida talking to a volunteer at the Al-Aqsa Clinic on April 26.

Dr. Muhammad Ahmed, a gastroenterologist at Cone Health, also volunteers at the clinic. He treats a variety of gastrointestinal issues, such as constipation, abdominal pain and H. pylori infections, which he said are common among patients.

“Everyone here is a volunteer,” Ahmed said. “We take time out of our own weekend schedules to see patients. The main thing is the sense of satisfaction because the majority of these patients are uninsured.”

Ahmed said the clinic operates with a level of professionalism that sets it apart from other volunteer-based practices.

“There are volunteer clinics where I did my residency fellowship,” Ahmed said. “This place is so unique that every aspect of it and every volunteer works as if they are very accounted for and it works so professionally that anyone who comes here would not feel that it's just a volunteer clinic. Patients would get everything with the standard of care and evidence-based medicine.”

In addition to general healthcare, the clinic offers women’s health services in partnership with Cone Health, including free pap smears and mammograms.

“For OB-GYN care, they can do the pap smear and the mammogram for free, if they come through our clinic,” Khdour said. “They know we already checked them and we make sure they qualify for the service.”

The clinics' next operating days are May 3 and May 17. Looking ahead, Khdour also plans to open a free dental clinic, which she said would be the first of its kind in the U.S. She also hopes to have a completely free hospital one day.