Volunteers in Medicine Clinic of the Cascades (VIM) is celebrating 20 years of providing medical care in its clinic to the uninsured and critically underserved in Central Oregon. Join volunteers, staff, and patients on March 20 from 5:30-7pm at the clinic, 2300 NE Neff Rd. on the St. Charles Bend campus. Volunteers will offer clinic tours and visitors will be able to talk with clinic stewards and learn more about the history, and future, of VIM Cascades.
Volunteers in Medicine’s history is one of vision, compassion, and dogged determination. The story began in 1999 when a small group of people decided to tackle a growing healthcare problem in Deschutes County. The goal: to find the most effective and cost-efficient way to care for low-income, working residents who weren’t receiving the medical care they needed because they were uninsured.
It would require a collaborative effort of local talents and resources. The plan was to recruit retired, active, medical professionals as volunteers, with the promise that they could practice the art of medicine without having to deal with the business of medicine. With primary care anchored at the clinic, local for-profit providers and facilities were approached to donate specialty services, as needed, on a referral basis. Non-medical volunteers were trained to fill positions such as patient screening and scheduling and database entry. A small, highly skilled staff was hired to oversee it all.
Over the last 20 years, VIM patients have received a coordinated system of healthcare including primary and specialty care, prescription medications, mental health care, and basic dental care, as needed. Patients must qualify for services every 12 months and have a family income of less than 300% of the federal poverty line, or less than $45,180 annually for an individual. All care is still provided without charge.
Since the clinic opened, we’ve provided over $150 million in medical treatment and services to the local community and served 15,732 patients who would not have had consistent healthcare without VIM.
One day we hope our patients won’t need us. But until then, we’ll be here.
About Volunteers in Medicine Clinic of the Cascades:
Now honoring 20 years of caring, Volunteers in Medicine Clinic of the Cascades provides healthcare to low-income, working adults who live in Central Oregon and have no medical insurance or means to pay for care. Using a community approach, 200+ in-clinic volunteers and 300 local medical partners collaborate to provide patients with necessary primary and specialty medical care, prescription medications and mental health care. Patient costs of $154 per visit are funded by patient donations along with local and regional individual, corporate and foundation supporters. Because of the dedicated efforts of our volunteers, every $1 raised is leveraged into $3.82 worth of services, generating more than $150 million worth of care since VIM opened in 2004.
