Retired doctors volunteer
The original Volunteers in Medicine clinic in Hilton Head, S.C., was created on the simple concept of using the knowledge and time of retired doctors and other medical personnel to treat the uninsured. But as more sites have opened — 77 nationwide — many clinics have found that recruiting retired physicians has been a bit of a challenge.
Not so in Bend, which like Hilton Head draws retirees by the golf-cart load. Central Oregon’s emergence as a retirement destination, in particular for those seeking an active lifestyle, has helped provide the VIM clinic on Neff Road in Bend with a steady work force.
“This is a place where professionals like to retire,” said Clinic Executive Director Kat Mastrangelo. “When we look at where we stand compared to other clinics, we’re doing really well. I think we’re second to the original clinic in Hilton Head as far as the number of retired physicians.”
VIM clinics provide free or low-cost health care to a specific slice of the population: the uninsured who don’t qualify for public safety net programs such as the Oregon Health Plan but don’t make enough money to be able to purchase their own insurance. The clinics are funded primarily through charitable donations and keep their overhead low by relying on volunteers to do everything from answering phones to performing medical exams.
In 2008, more than 8,000 individuals volunteered in VIM clinics nationwide, including more than 3,000 retirees. Of those, 351 were retired physicians and 536 retired nurses or nurse practitioners.
Still, a survey of VIM clinics found that, after fundraising, one of their biggest concerns was the recruitment of physicians, and in particular specialists.
“We’re doing a lot more in-house specialty care because we have retired specialists in orthopedics, cardiology, neurology, gastroenterology, gynecology, who all want to volunteer,” Mastrangelo said. “So now we’re able to take care of a little bit more in house than we were able to do before.”
While the clinic has its fair share of doctors who spent their careers in Bend and retired here, it’s also relying on physicians such as Drs. Allan MacKenzie and Robert Collins, who came to Bend after prestigious careers elsewhere.
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