Free Clinics Now Providing Healthcare Solutions to the Uninsured

Burlington, VT In over 66 communities across the country, 250,000+ retired physicians and 350,000 retired nurses are now providing a solution to the healthcare crisis.

Volunteers in Medicine (VIM), an organization whose mission is to promote and guide the development of a national network of free clinics, is utilizing retired medical professionals and lay volunteers to care for the uninsured within a culture of caring.

Volunteers in Medicine (VIM) began in Hilton Head, South Carolina. In 1992, one out of three people who lived on Hilton Head Island had no access to health care. At the same time, a number of retired medical personnel (physicians, nurses, dentists) expressed an interest in finding a way to continue practicing their profession on a voluntary, part-time basis to help those without access to health care. So these two groups were brought together to create the first Volunteers in Medicine Clinic. Since then, 66 VIM free clinics have opened in 22 states across the country.

"No community can be truly healthy if a significant portion of the population is excluded from basic health care services," says Amy Hamlin, executive director of Volunteers in Medicine. "In the absence of a national health policy that includes health care for everyone, concerned citizens need to find other solutions to provide the medically under-served with the health care services they desperately need. Volunteers in Medicine delivers on such solution."

The statistics are staggering; 47 million people in this country have no medical insurance. Another 25 million are underinsured, up 60% in just four years with middle and higher income families comprising most of that increase. The impact on the infrastructure of towns and cities is equally staggering. When people are injured or sick, they can't work, effecting employers and their ability to provide goods and services. When people postpone seeking medical care, their medical conditions get worse and more costly to treat. And without adequate health insurance, emergency rooms become the default. This is particularly difficult, as emergency departments have seen cuts in reimbursements, while at the same time ER visits are at record highs across the country. This creates a cost-shift, which means higher premiums for everyone.

Even if everyone were to become insured tomorrow, there is not enough current or future primary care capacity to provide health care to all Americans. Over one-third of active physicians are over age 55 and with many choosing early retirement, there will be a deficit of primary care physicians by 2020. Faced with lower reimbursement rates, excessive work loads, and rising medical school costs, fewer graduates are choosing primary care. "Empowering retired physicians to practice the 'pure medicine' they crave without the 'business' of medicine is the common sense approach that Volunteers in Medicine provides. This is one solution to improving the long term health of our country," continued Hamlin.

Some 313,000 of the active physician population are over 55. This means that 36% of active physicians are set to retire by 2020 while at the same time there are only 105,000 physicians in residency training. Contrary to predictions in the 1980's and 1990's, there will not be a surplus of physicians in the 21st Century but rather we will face a physician shortage. "The statistics on current and projected physician numbers further support the ongoing effectiveness that the VIM model will have in improving the healthcare of our country long term," continued Hamlin.

For more information on Volunteers in Medicine and for a list of our free clinics, please visit http://www.volunteersinmedicine.org

Media Contact: Elizabeth Davis edavis@boardmandavis.com 802-598-7155

In Other American Health and Disability News

Gov. Bob Riley will sign an executive order on Thursday to broaden the scope of the Governor’s Office on Disability. The executive order will improve coordination between the Governor’s Office on Disability and the Alabama Department of Rehabilitation Services. The office will also work with public and private organizations to increase efficiency in the use of resources for Alabamians with disabilities and maintain local committees around the state that will help determine the unmet needs of those with disabilities. The office’s director will serve as a liaison to the Governor on disability issues. Several Alabamians with disabilities are expected to join Governor Riley at the signing ceremony.

Health and Disability News for US Seniors:

MeritCare Health System says it is notifying senior citizens who get health insurance coverage through UniCare that it will stop providing services for them starting next year. MeritCare's statement said UniCare plans were marketed mainly to patients in Minnesota as part of a comprehensive health coverage plan called Medicare Advantage. Fargo's MeritCare won't see Unicare seniors

Gov. Charlie Crist signed an executive order Wednesday establishing a program to help find missing senior citizens. Modeled after the Amber Alert program for missing youngsters, the new Silver Alert program will send messages to news media outlets when a person over age 60 with mental impairments cannot be found. Similar programs are used in 10 states, including Georgia and North Carolina. If the incident involves a vehicle, messages to help find the missing person will be flashed on highway signs. ''The plan that Florida has ensures a prompt and comprehensive response while still ensuring leverage and dignity,'' said Heather Smith, a spokeswoman for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. ``We think it could save lives.'' Of Florida's 4.3 million residents over the age of 60, about 500,000 may suffer from Alzheimer's, the governor's office said. About 1,800 senior citizens, not all with cognitive impairments, were reported missing in 2007, according to FDLE.

SAN FRANCISCO, Oct 08, 2008 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- The nonprofit Institute on Aging (IOA) has started construction on the Senior Campus at 3575 Geary Boulevard in San Francisco's Richmond District. The 6-story facility will be the center of operations for many of the IOA's supportive services in the community and home to 150 affordable studio, one-bedroom, and two-bedroom apartments exclusively for older adults. The project is a partnership with Bridge Housing, one of California's largest nonprofit affordable housing developers.

Veterans News

Governor M. Jodi Rell announced today that the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (USVA) will soon be mailing disability verification letters required for local property tax relief to Connecticut’s 22,000 veterans. “This is great news for Connecticut’s veterans who have been counting on this relief,” Governor Rell said. “Just a few days ago, thousands of disabled state veterans stood to lose a tax break if they did not contact the federal Department of Veterans Affairs requesting proof of their disability. In these tough economic times it is imperative that these men and women receive all the financial benefits and assistance that they have so courageously earned.” Disabled veterans who want to receive a letter sooner from the VA Hartford Regional Office can still request those letters by calling the state’s Veterans Information hot line at 866-928-8387 or by visiting a nearby veterans office.

Coming Events:

Finger Lakes Community College is hosting its first-ever free Disability Film Festival during the month of October in an attempt to educate the public about the lives of people with disabilities. The festival begins at 5 p.m. with Gretchen Berland’s “Rolling,” a documentary about the experiences and encounters of three people who have cameras mounted on their wheelchairs. Two films will be shown at the festival’s next showing on Thursday, Oct. 16 at 12:30 p.m. All of the films will be shown in Stage 13 on the second floor of FLCC’s Hopewell Campus, 4355 Lakeshore Drive, Canandaigua.

Nashville, TN - In honor of National Disability Employment Awareness Month, The Northeast Tennessee Diversity in Employment Consortium will present a Regional Workforce Employer Outreach Committee Meeting (WEOC) on Thursday, October 23rd.  The meeting will be held at Eastman Chemical Company's Toy F. Reid Employee Center, 400 South Wilcox Drive, Kingsport, from 8:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. The forum is designed for all employers from northeast Tennessee and will highlight the benefits of hiring individuals with disabilities and assist them in meeting their workforce needs.  The Keynote Speaker will be Survivor's Big Tom Buchanan who will discuss reading literacy and a program he created for elementary school children titled “Reading is the Key to Survival.” The agenda also includes an ADA Presentation by Kelly Campbell with Wimberly, Lawson, Seale, Wright & Daves.  And there will be an employer panel highlighting best practices from Spherion, SunTrust, Walgreens and Wyndham Vacation Ownership, Inc. This event is being hosted in conjunction with the Northeast Tennessee Diversity in Employment Consortium, The Northeast Tennessee Workforce Investment Board, and Walters State Community College Center for Workforce Development. The Consortium focuses its efforts on increasing employment for job seekers with disabilities.  It is comprised of the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development, Alliance for Business & Training, TN Career Center System, TN Department of Human Services, Division of Rehabilitation Services, and DRS Corporate Connections/University of Tennessee Center on Disability and Employment. Anyone interested in attending must RSVP to Teresa Smith, DRS Corporate Connections at (423) 434-6613, teresas@utk.edu or C-Ann Harris Chapman at (423) 534-1760, C.Ann.Chapman@state.tn.us by October 13, 2008.
            
Naval Station Newport's Equal Employment Opportunity Committee will sponsor the eighth annual Disability Awareness Fair on Tuesday, Oct. 21, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., at the newly renovated Officers' Club. This year's theme is "America's People, America's Talent, America's Strength." There is no cost to attend the fair, however, individuals without normal base access must contact the Equal Employment Opportunity Committee coordinator at 841-4875 to be placed on an access list.

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