The demise of free care. The Visiting Nurse Association of Chicago.

This article discusses the decision by the Visiting Nurse Association (VNA) of Chicago to severely limit uncompensated care as of May 1986. Pressured by increasing market forces, the VNA unsuccessfully struggled to maintain its historical mission of service to indigent clients. As VNAs throughout the entire U.S. face financial instability, public sector agencies must be funded to assume responsibility for the care of the medically indigent.