ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Monday, June 24, 1996                  TAG: 9606240087
SECTION: VIRGINIA                 PAGE: C-4  EDITION: METRO 
DATELINE: YORKTOWN
SOURCE: Associated Press 

DOCTOR DISPENSES FREE CARE FOR POOR FROM CHURCH OFFICE

There is no sign advertising Dr. James Shaw's presence in the rear offices of Rising Sun Baptist Church, but none is needed.

Word has spread that if you're poor and ailing, you can drop by the church on Thursday nights and see the doctor free.

``This is much easier,'' said James Clarke, 72, who came to get his blood pressure checked. ``If I have to go to another doctor, I have to wait for an hour, and I have to make appointments.''

Shaw, a pulmonary specialist at Riverside Regional Medical Center in Newport News, said his clinic is a way of putting his Christian beliefs into practice.

``This is sort of my home-based missionary activity,'' said Shaw, 52. ``For me, it's a ministry, my service to the Lord - nothing more and nothing less.''

After reaffirming his faith about three years ago, Shaw began looking for a way to put it into action. Local governments were lukewarm to his proposals to establish a free clinic, he said.

A minister he spoke to at Riverside suggested he offer his services in the Lackey area, home to some of York County's poorest households.

Officials at Rising Sun invited him to work at the church until he can move into the county's new community services building at nearby Brown Park. The facility is expected to be completed next month.

Response was slow at first, said Shaw. Three patients during the two-hour clinic was about as busy as it got.

``You come over here in the dead of winter and you wonder, `What are we doing this for?''' Shaw said.

Last fall, however, he provided free school physicals for about 35 children - exams that would have cost $25 or more otherwise - and word of his services spread.

``He has given every Thursday night of his time,'' said Anne Smith, director of the county's Community Services Department. ``Doctors don't have a lot of that. He's an outstanding volunteer.''

LENGTH: Short :   48 lines
ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO:  AP. Dr. James Shaw offers free check-ups in the back of 
          the Rising Sun Baptist Church in Yorktown.