Gov. Linda Lingle has released a $75,000 grant-in-aid to the Aloha Medical Mission, which runs a free medical and dental clinic at Palama Settlement on O'ahu.

The grant-in-aid will be used to expand the clinic's hours of operation so it can treat more patients.

The Honolulu clinic provides a range of free medical and dental services to the uninsured and those unable to pay for care. Many of the patients are newly arrived immigrants who are unemployed or working part-time, or migrants from the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia and the Republic of Palau.

The annual cost of operating the clinic is about $224,000. The mission has also received private grants from the Hawai'i Medical Service Association, Hawai'i Dental Service and Strong Foundation.

The Aloha Medical Mission also provides free medical, surgical and other health-related services, plus supplies and equipment, to poor areas in the Philippines, Southeast Asia and throughout the Pacific.