For four years, New Jersey’s Zarephath Health Center has helped churches meet the health care needs of the poor, uninsured, and under-insured, writes the Courier News of Bridgewater, New Jersey.

"We believe it is very difficult for the government to provide cost-effective, high-quality health care," said Dr. Alieta Eck, an internist who founded the clinic with her husband, John, a family practitioner.

The clinic, which sees 100 to 150 patients each month, is located on the campus of the Zarephath Christian Church. The clinic is not charged rent by the church and patients donate what they can afford in a box in the waiting room. Members of Zarephath Christian Church and other churches also regularly make tax-deductible donations. Since opening in September 2003, the clinic’s donations have risen from $15,000 to $50,000.

"We believe that ours is a better way," said Eck, “paying a fair price for services rendered, yet not having to pay the extraordinary premiums expected by health insurance companies in New Jersey, and not expecting overtaxed New Jerseyans to foot the bill for all the uninsured. Everyone wins."