Clinic serves those with jobs but without health insurance

News

by Max Marbut

Staff Writer

One of Downtown’s most unique businesses isn’t exactly high-profile. That is unless you’re someone who has a regular job but for one reason or another doesn’t have health insurance. With more than 120,000 people in Jacksonville meeting those criteria, and more joining that group every day, the services provided are steadily becoming more valuable.

Volunteers in Medicine opened its doors six years ago at the corner of Ocean and Duval streets. Housed in the former Paulus Music store, it’s a primary care clinic just like others in the community, except its patients receive care from licensed professionals at no cost. That care can include a visit to the doctor, diagnostic tests, medications and if it’s deemed necessary, a referral to the Mayo Clinic.

Since the economy began to decline more than a year ago, “We are seeing a much greater demand for our services,” noted VIM Business Administrator Jeff Matthews. That’s a side effect of people being downsized from full-time to part-time as well as those whose employers have stopped providing health insurance and employees who can no longer afford to pay for their share of a company’s health insurance package.

VIM is a not-for-profit corporation with only five staff members. What keeps the doors open is a team of volunteers including physicians, nurse practitioners, registered nurses and clerical volunteers. The increase in demand for services, more than 15 percent in the past year, has added to the time it takes for a qualified patient to get an appointment, Matthews said.

“We ask our volunteers to contribute one four-hour shift per month,” he added.

Qualified patients are those who are employed and make more than $13,000 but less than $25,530 per year and who are not covered by health insurance. After a patient is accepted, they receive basic non-emergency care, laboratory testing and medications or prescriptions. All of the care for more than 4,200 registered VIM patients is donated by VIM’s partner providers.

“St. Vincent’s provides all of our laboratory work because they own their own lab,” said Matthews. “We’ve also gotten donations from Baptist Health. Both hospitals realize the care we provide can keep people out of their emergency rooms.”

Other partners who provide services for VIM patients are the Komen for the Cure Foundation which performs mammograms and ultrasound examinations and The Mayo Clinic.

“We’ve been partnering with Mayo for three years and they have provided care for 126 patients free of charge,” said Matthews.

In addition to the corporate partners, Matthews said the current roster of individual volunteers includes 30 physicians, 24 nurse practitioners, 60 registered nurses and more than 100 non-clinical volunteers who make appointments, maintain medical records and perform other services.

One change VIM has made in its basic policies due to the downturn in the employment picture is the requirement that patients who were already being treated at the clinic be employed.

“We haven’t asked any of our patients to leave if they lost their job due to the economy,” said Matthews. “We have a responsibility to provide a continuity of care.”

VIM receives no government funding and relies entirely on private donations. Matthews said the organization’s benefactors and donors include family foundations, corporations and financial support from individuals.

“We’re six years old and we have a good track record with the folks who got us going. We have been blessed,” he added.

The clinic recently received a donation that funded the purchase of diabetes testing meters and supplies. “Unfortunately that’s our most common diagnosis,” said Matthews. VIM also received a donation of electronic medical records software that will allow the clinic to transition to paperless records. Matthews said the system will be put in place early next year and will help the clinic evaluate its patient base and possibly use the data to qualify for other grants.

When asked what’s on his “wish list,” Matthews said it would be advantageous to have a larger building with more examination rooms but added, “This is not the time to mount a capital campaign to build another clinic. It would also be great to have more professional volunteers, especially considering how many more people need the services we provide.”

He paused then added, “If there’s anyone out there who’d like to see their name on a clinic, tell them to call me.”