Primary Care – The Volunteers In Medicine Clinic provides a medical “home-base” for those people that are without health care coverage and the economic means to pay fee-for-service. Patients have their records at the clinic just like other physician offices. When a person comes to their appointment, their medical chart, with their records, is here. Continuity of care is very important to the overall health care picture for our patients. So many of them have not seen a healthcare provider for many years. By giving them a medical home-base, they can now receive consistent, excellent care in a familiar place.
Episodic Care – Qualifying patients can come to the clinic with minor trauma, and other semi-emergency needs. Our compassionate staff and volunteers are always willing to take a walk-in patient who presents an emergency.
Diabetic Management and Education – Before the Volunteers In Medicine Clinic opened, the low-income diabetic had to piece-meal the care and management of their disease usually without any professional input. Now, with the help of Meyer Memorial Trust, and The Spirit Mountain Community Fund, and many others, we are able to offer Diabetic Management and Education to this patient population. Classes are offered in both English and Spanish. Over 200 patients have “graduated” and, are now armed with the skills, knowledge, medicines and supplies in order to live with diabetes in a more stable and healthful way.
Considering the mission of the Volunteers In Medicine Clinic is to understand and serve the health and wellness needs of those medically underserved who live in the greater Eugene/Springfield area, we found that the most frequent diagnosis was and continues to be diabetes. Because of that we were able to put together an innovative Diabetes program. This program includes a new way of educating patients called group visits. These groups have one volunteering physican who is assigned to a group for the entire six weeks. These physicians understand and have great compassion for those suffering from this disease. The Diabetic Educator, Cheryl Moore conducts the classes along with the physician. VIM Students/patients learn how to – many for the first time – manage their disease. Group members learn and share with one another. Having others to understand and listen to the complexities suffered from diabetes brings enormous help to those who feel alone and have no personal support. Group visits are offered in both English and Spanish. The first 200 students have graduated and the next 100 are now enrolled.
According to Dr. Hugh Johnston, co-Medical Director and overseer of the Diabetic Management Program, this program is doing better in it’s results than the national level and in some cases better than local peer organizations.
Here is an email from a former diabetic patient that attended our program: “I don’t know if you will remember my husband and I or not. We moved to the Seattle area last October after my husband got a job with Microsoft (after being out of work for over two years). You helped us out a lot with diabetic supplies and education. Just wanted to let you know that my most recent blood work shows a lot of progress. (she gives those results). There is still work to be done, but at least I am going in the right direction. Thank you again for your help during that hard time.” Signed Lauryn M.
This former patient has arranged with MicroSoft for the matching gifts program and is now giving back to the clinic monetarily. The gratitude of our patients and their families is a wonderful thing to experience. Lives are changed every day at the Volunteers In Medicine Clinic.
Volunteering physician, Dr. Loren Barlow, says “This is an innovative way of managing diabetes and new ways of managing this problem are long over-due. I enjoy participating in this outstanding program.”
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Specialty Referral – Over 250 local medical specialists that have agreed to take Volunteers In Medicine referrals pro-bono. These wonderful men and women understand that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. It’s because of the generous Eugene and Springfield medical community that we have been able to, on average, send nearly 100 percent of our patients to local specialists.
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