Free Clinics Now Providing Healthcare Solutions to the ...( Volunteers i...),Health

Volunteers in Medicine is easing the pain of the healthcare crisis by opening free clinics across the country.

Burlington, VT (PRWeb) October 09, 2008-- In over 66 communities across the country, 250,000+ retired physicians and 350,000 retired nurses are now providing a solution to the healthcare crisis. Volunteers in Medicine (VIM), an organization whose mission is to promote and guide the development of a national network of free clinics, is utilizing retired medical professionals and lay volunteers to care for the uninsured within a culture of caring.

Volunteers in Medicine (VIM) began in Hilton Head, South Carolina. In 1992, one out of three people who lived on Hilton Head Island had no access to health care. At the same time, a number of retired medical personnel (physicians, nurses, dentists) expressed an interest in finding a way to continue practicing their profession on a voluntary, part-time basis to help those without access to health care. So these two groups were brought together to create the first Volunteers in Medicine Clinic. Since then, 66 VIM free clinics have opened in 22 states across the country.

"No community can be truly healthy if a significant portion of the population is excluded from basic health care services," says Amy Hamlin, executive director of Volunteers in Medicine. "In the absence of a national health policy t
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