At first glance, Volunteers in Medicine-Jacksonville looks like any other primary care medical clinic.
The doctors and nurses wear white coats and brightly colored scrub suits. There’s a receptionist behind a window and a sign-in sheet on a clipboard. There are even a few two-year-old editions among the magazines in the waiting room.
One factor that makes the clinic at 41 E. Duval St. Downtown different is its patients. The clinic exclusively treats individuals and their families who are employed, but earn too much money to have access to publicly subsidized care yet cannot afford or do not have access to private health insurance.
Another difference is that other than a few paid administrative positions, the people who work at the clinic – physicians, nurse practitioners, registered nurses and clerical staff – are volunteers who donate their time to help others in the community.
Jeff Matthews, vice president and COO, said the need for services has grown each year since VIM opened in 2003. Before the recession, it was estimated that more than 120,000 people in Duval County qualified for treatment at VIM and that number has grown with the recession.
“We’re seeing more than 500 patients, on average, each month,” Matthews said.
In addition to volunteer professionals who provide the medical care, corporate and individual donors provide funding for medications, prescriptions, laboratory tests and even eyeglasses.
The clinic is making the transition to electronic medical records, thanks to the donation of computers and software used to implement the new technology and train volunteers.
Matthews said he’s not anticipating a significant drop in demand with the proposed health care reform expected to take effect in 2014. He predicts the changes could create a new set of challenges for patients and providers.
Matthews said the new guidelines could mean that more than 50 percent of VIM’s current patients would qualify for Medicaid.
“But just because a patient qualifies doesn’t mean the system will have the capacity to treat them,” he said.
“There will always be a need for what we do at VIM and VIM will do, with the help of our donors and volunteers, what we need to do to provide care for our patients.”
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