by Kent Jennings Brockwell
Staff Writer
With more than 600 patients treated during its first year, Jacksonville’s Volunteers in Medicine free health clinic considers itself a success.
In September, the clinic will celebrate its first anniversary.
Dr. Jim Burt, co-founder and president of the local clinic, said he is ecstatic about the level of success they have achieved.
“The ultimate measure of success will be how many patients come in and how many we receive and treat,” he said, “We would like to see more.”
Originally founded in Hilton Head, S.C., Volunteers in Medicine is a group of 26 medical clinics in the U.S. that offer free health care for the working uninsured.
Though Burt said he planned to treat more than 10,000 patients during the clinic’s first year, he is not disappointed with the lower than expected turnout.
“People need to come down and see that this is a quality place,” he said. “We only use people that can do a good job.”
Clinical director Donna Van Loock said besides VIM’s four full-time employees, all of the clinic’s 22 physicians and more than 100 workers are volunteers. Van Loock said the physicians come from a variety of backgrounds covering more than 10 medical specialties from dermatology to gastroentorology. The clinic’s roster even includes a retired cardiovascular surgeon, she said.
Van Loock, who is also a full-time faculty member at the University of North Florida, said she has been touched by the humanitarian nature of the clinic’s workers.
“These people are working their Monday through Friday jobs, but then they come in and volunteer,” said Van Loock. “Everyone is here because they want to be here. That is what amazes me.”
The facility, a bright blue building on the corner of Ocean and Duval streets, is a fully functioning clinic offering many routine medical services.
Within the next year, the clinic plans on expanding its capabilities by offering basic X-ray services. Burt said they are receiving a grant to prepare the room and have already obtained a donated X-ray machine.
The clinic also has an eye care room, which should be fully functioning in the near future, he said.
The clinic’s basic pharmacy is stocked with donated medications and distributes medicine free of charge to its patients.
Though most of the equipment at the clinic has come from donations, Burt said they still have to buy most of their medical supplies, such as bandages.
“People locally have given all of the funding,” Burt said, adding that the clinic has used no government money so far and has incurred no debt.
As far as the patients are concerned, Burt said they have been nothing but pleased.
“The people who come here are very appreciative,” he said.
Nancy Coale, VIM’s business administrator, agreed, saying patients have been amazed by the clinic.
“These people don’t have any place else to go,” said Coale. “They get down here and see the place and see the doctors and they say, ‘Wow!’ ”
As for the future, Van Loock said VIM plans on treating many more patients. Though the original goal of treating more than 10,000 people during the first year was a little overprojected, Van Loock said it is an attainable goal.
“(10,000 patients) will be a goal that will be easily achievable once we get going,” she said. “We would like to see more Volunteers in Medicine locations in Jacksonville and Northeast Florida.”