by Bailey White
Staff Writer
In just a little over a month, the Volunteers in Medicine clinic will see its first patients.
The non-profit clinic is scheduled to open Sept. 12 and will provide free primary medical care to individuals (and their families) who have a regular job, no insurance, and meet an income requirement set by the clinic.
The space that will serve as its home is the former Paulus Music Co. building at 41 E. Duval St., which is currently under construction.
“We pretty much gutted the building,” said Dr. James Burt, a co-founder of VIM in Jacksonville. “It’s really going to make a wonderful space for our clinic.”
The two stories and 8,100 square feet of space are being transformed into examining rooms, reception areas and administrative offices where patients will seek services in primary care, mental health counseling and possibly some specialty procedures.
Volunteer pharmacists will fill prescriptions and offer patient consultation.
Volunteers in Medicine is based on a model clinic in Hilton Head, S.C., which has inspired over 20 similar clinics around the country. Founded in 1994, the Hilton Head clinic now serves more than 16,000 patients a year.
“When we were planning the construction, we visited the Hilton Head clinic and another in Lakeland to get an idea of how they operate and the flow of their buildings,” said Burt.
Funds for construction and operating costs have come from a number of grants and individual donors and foundations.
“We’ve done a lot of begging,” said Burt.
They’ve also hired health care veteran Monica Costello as a clinic administrator and Elaine Edwards as an administrative assistant.
All medical services will be provided by volunteers, and though over 80 health care professionals signed up to volunteer, “we still need doctors and pharmacists,” said Burt. “Similar clinics saw between 10,000 and 12,000 patients in their first year and we expect that we could be busier.”