Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, September 7, 1993 TAG: 9309050022
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: KEVIN KITTREDGE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RADFORD LENGTH: Long
Vicars, a 34-year-old unemployed Radford resident, hadn't been to a doctor's office in years - because, she said, she couldn't afford it.
"Seemed like the first thing out of their mouths was, `Have you got money to pay?' " she said.
Enter the Program for Special Medical Care, which linked Vicars with a physician for a song.
Thus it was that doctors discovered cancerous cells on her uterus. One hysterectomy later, Vicars is a believer.
"This program has helped me a lot," she said of the unique health-care program that may have saved her life. "I know other families it would definitely help, who cannot afford to go to the doctor."
Some 317 uninsured New River Valley residents already participate in the Radford-based program, operated by doctors who donate their services. Patients pay a small fee, which goes toward medicine.
Those in the program represent just a fraction of those who don't have health insurance in the New River Valley. About 23,200 New River Valley residents living below the poverty line have no "significant" insurance, doctors say.
Many people in the area will not even seek medical care because they are too proud to owe money, said Radford physician John Reuwer, director of the program.
"Here," Reuwer said, "they feel like they can pay a little and not walk away in debt."
Forty-seven physicians are donating their time to the program, which was founded in 1987.
They operate out of their own offices. Drugs are sold, at cost, to the program by several pharmacists.
There are no administrative costs. Patients are screened for the program by a retired minister, who links up those who qualify with doctors who agree to give them the same attention as patients who pay.
"It's kind of a loosey-goosey organization," said the minister, Raymond Kelley, who screens prospective patients at the Radford Health Department. "But it works."
Patients are asked to pay their doctors $3 per visit and a small fee toward medicine.
All the money collected is channeled back into the program's budget - all of which goes to medicine costs.
Also dubbed the "clinic without walls," the Program for Special Medical Care is thought to be one of a kind, both in its lack of overhead and its broad support among physicians and others. Doctors, pharmacies, churches and private donors all have contributed time or money to the program.
"In terms of community effort, this program is a real shining star," Reuwer said.
"We're proud of the program," said Radford physician Robert Solomon, one of its leaders. "It's really an amazing collaboration between physicians, clergy and people in the community."
To qualify for the program, patients must make less than 150 percent of the federal poverty level. This includes families in which parents may work full time at minimum-wage jobs, but still don't have enough money to pay for health insurance, doctors said.
"They are often people between jobs. They are often working people who don't have money to pay for insurance," said Solomon.
Thirty percent of the patients are children, Solomon said.
"Hopefully, we'll have a system someday where everybody has insurance," he said. "But right now, it's a really needed program."
All in all, the program has provided 900 people with close to $300,000 in donated medical care since 1987, program leaders estimate. Its budget, which approaches $100,000 this year, consists of patient fees and donations from the Radford Community Health Foundation, pharmaceutical companies, churches, industries and private sources. All the money goes to medicine.
The program receives no government funding.
There are other programs that offer medical care for low-income patients in the New River Valley, doctors said - notably free clinics in Pulaski and Christiansburg.
Clinics provide an invaluable service, said Reuwer, but he said more is needed.
"Free clinics are wonderful. But who gets sick just on Tuesday night? This gives poor people the same access to health care as anyone else."
Results are easy to find, the physicians say. "There's been so many success stories," said Solomon.
Few top Vicars'.
The Radford resident said she had felt ill for several years - but never went to the doctor because she could not afford it. She was too ill to work, she said.
Meanwhile her husband, Warren "Junior" Vicars, 39, was laid off from his construction job last winter. He also had been ill, suffering from panic attacks that required trips to the hospital emergency room they could ill afford.
Warren Vicars eventually was referred to the Program for Special Medical Care. After some months, Rita Vicars applied to the program, as well, and was admitted.
Radford physician Michael Conatser discovered the cancerous cells, she said.
Solomon said he hopes to raise more money and recruit more doctors to the program.
Tax-deductible donations to the program can be sent to: Donna Littlepage, Attn: Program for Special Medical Care, P.O. Box 3715, First Street Station, Radford, Va. 24143.
by CNB