Volunteers in Medicine serve the uninsured in Central Oregon

Thanks to a vision of a retired doctor in South Carolina and the dedication of Central Oregon volunteers, many uninsured residents of Sisters and elsewhere in Deschutes County are now receiving free health care.

Since opening in March of 2004, the Volunteers in Medicine Clinic of the Cascades in Bend (VIM) has provided medical treatment to more than 9,000 patients, according to Dr. Ron Carver, a retired Bend doctor, co-chair of the committee that founded VIM in Bend and its first medical director. Carver spoke to the Sisters Rotary Club last week.

Included in that number of patients are 280 residents of the Sisters area, about the area’s proportionate percentage of the county’s population, Dr. Carver explained. He gave highlights of several local patients who have been served by the clinic.

“To be eligible for the free medical care, a patient currently must be a Deschutes County resident for at least 90 days and not be covered by the Oregon Health Plan, Medicare, or any other medical insurance,” Carver told his audience. “In addition, the family income must be at least 200 percent below the federal poverty level.”

While visits to the clinic are free, voluntary contributions are encouraged to cover costs of prescriptions and supplies, he added.

In looking back at the two years that the clinic has operated, the numbers are almost staggering. More than 3,000 patients visited the clinic the first year and that number has doubled in the past 12 months, Carver said. Some 3,000 households have been aided by the clinic with the average family making three visits. Nearly 12,000 prescriptions have been filled using donated supplies with an estimated value of $1.3 million.

The clinic’s $700,000 annual budget gets no support from federal or state funds, but is financed by donations from individuals, businesses, and foundation grants. Nearly 400 volunteers have contributed over 41,000 hours with a value approaching $1 million, Carver said.

The first Volunteers in Medicine clinic was founded by Dr. Jack McConnell in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. After he retired to the area, he found that many of the service workers and low income people in that resort area, much like Central Oregon, could not afford health insurance or medical care. With the help of others, he formed a free medical clinic that is now a model for the nation.

Forty VIM clinics are operating across the country, including the one in Bend and one in Lane County; another 30 are being developed. In 2001, community leaders from Bend heard Dr. McConnell speak, visited his clinic and formed a steering committee to establish VIM in Central Oregon. An anonymous donor contributed most of the construction cost of a small medical center built on 1.5 acres provided by St. Charles Medical Center. Retired and working physicians, nurses, pharmacists and others joined the effort and the clinic was underway.

The VIM Clinic of the Cascades is located on Neff Road just west of St. Charles Medical Center in Bend near the Ronald McDonald House.

“The VIM clinics are not a franchise like McDonald’s, but it is local people taking an idea, recognizing the need, and meeting that need,” Carver explained.

Volunteers provide outpatient preventive and acute care, treatment of chronic illnesses, health maintenance, some prescription assistance, and more recently dental work and mental health care. Licensed medical professionals who donate their services provide all services. “We do not offer a 24/7 service,” Carver said. “A schedule of hours is available from the clinic.”

“At first we thought the number of county residents in need would be about 12 percent of our population, “Carver said. “Unfortunately that number is now between 17 and 18 percent and will soon be up to 20 percent in the next year or so. The initial estimate was that 10,000 residents were without health insurance, and now that number is between 16,000 and 20,000 people.”

Most patients are employed but cannot afford insurance. Some 60 percent are under the age of 40, two-thirds are women, and 20 percent are Hispanic. There are 50 children who are patients who are not covered by the Oregon Health Plan. About 40 percent of the patients come to the clinic with mental health problems in addition to medical problems.

“There are challenges,” Dr. Carver said. “How do you take ‘old docs’ and teach them new tricks? There is a forgetting curve as well as a learning curve. And how do you give good care with limited resources?” During his presentation, Dr. Carver gave a detailed report of medical equipment purchased by a $1,000 contribution made last year by the Sisters Rotary Club.

Bob Reed, a Black Butte Ranch resident who serves as advocate for VIM in western Deschutes County, introduced Dr. Carver.

Financial contributions and volunteer time are welcomed by VIM, as well as donated supplies. Call 330-9001 or visit http://www.vim-cascades.org.