Volunteers In Medicine America has an Immeasurable Impact on Every Community We Touch.
Since 1993, VIM has assisted in the development of free primary health care clinics for the uninsured. These facilities have expanded access to quality health care for low income people throughout the country. Today, 92 clinics continue to follow the VIM free clinic model. There is an enduring interest in this distinctive health care model, with more than a dozen new sites in development.
Affiliate Clinics
Patients Served
Medical Visits
Dental Visits
Counseling Visits
Dr. Helmer, volunteer at VIM of Cape May County and the Parker Family Health Center
Dedicated to assisting individuals, groups and local communities who want to develop free health care clinics.
Leadership, community organization, a detailed needs assessment and an understanding of the delivery of medical services are all essential requirements to starting a clinic based on the Volunteers in Medicine model. Establishing a Volunteers in Medicine free clinic requires alignment with others in your community who share your vision and have the skills and staying power to help develop a clinic. It is important to recruit both medical and non-medical leaders to join your organizing committee.
With Volunteers in Medicine, you will benefit from the guidance of an experienced staff member supporting you throughout the development process and providing direction, and inspiration along the way. Our consulting services and resource materials are provided at no charge to local communities.
VIM clinics that meet specific criteria may be eligible for a Family Medicine Cares USA grant from the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) Foundation.
Is there a genuine need for a free clinic in your community?
Are others concerned about those without access to health care, and will they insist on such a service being developed?
Does the medical community share your concern?
Would retired people, both medical and non-medical, be willing to volunteer in the clinic?
Want more information on starting your clinic? We’re here to help.
The Volunteers in Medicine (VIM) Model promotes a "Circle of Caring"
Being inclusive and welcoming to all is the foundation of the VIM Model. The Circle of Caring” recognizes the strengths of those in need and respects their dignity. It prompts the idea that the manner in which people are treated during a visit to a VIM clinic is as important as the medical care they receive. Perhaps most importantly, it recognizes that those providing care are also receiving care from those they serve. It is encapsulated in the Volunteers in Medicine Vision Statement:
Vision
May we have eyes to see those who are rendered invisible and excluded,
Open arms and hearts to reach out and include them,
Healing hands to touch their lives with love,
And in the process, heal ourselves.
Each VIM clinic is community-owned and supported, providing many benefits to its members:
- VIM clinics provide primary care services to the medically underserved and their families
- Hospitals benefit from a decrease in non-urgent care for patients visiting their emergency rooms and unnecessary admissions related to untreated chronic conditions
- Medical volunteers are able to practice pure medicine without the business of medicine
- Non-medical and community volunteers are able to support their neighbors in a nurturing, supportive environment
Patients are treated as friends and neighbors, not as diseases or numbers
Join Our Network
Interested in developing a free health care clinic? Let an experienced Volunteers in Medicine America staff member guide you through the development process, providing direction, inspiration, and support along the way.
Volunteer
If you treat your neighbor like yourself, you’ll always find hope.
Volunteer at a VIM Clinic today!
Give Hope; Give Health
Hope is one of the greatest gifts one can give to another, yet in giving it you also receive it. Give the gift of Hope through Health today.