Site of proposed free medical clinic. This is where Lee County Volunteers in Medicine plan to open a new health clinic for those who have no insurance or other means to pay for medical services. The clinic will occupy a part of the building yet to be built out. It is located next to the Microtel Inns and Suites. Photo by Mel Toadvine

The proposed new free health clinic for Lehigh Acres which will serve all of Lee County is one step closer to becoming a reality. As of now it is being referred to as Lee County Volunteers in Medicine.

It has a location and it has furniture and board members will begin in July to interview an executive director and are also setting up schedules when doctors and other healthcare professionals from Lehigh and other areas of the county can donate their time.

Dr. Stephen Schroering, who is helping to steer the project, says doctors from all over will volunteer their time and they will be physicians with all types of specialities.

“This is going well. We are being asked by many in the medical community how they can volunteer their time and specialities,” Schroering said.

If all goes as planned, the new free health clinic will be open by the end of the year or at least at the beginning of 2011, Schroering said. He has a practice in Lehigh.

Dr. Stephen Schroering

He says the problem of indigent care in Southwest Florida is enormous and in a letter to the medical staff at Lehigh Regional Medical Staff which has gone out to other health care agencies, too, Schroering noted the unemployment rate is a least 14 percent and some analysts say even higher.

“Comparatively, we are one of the highest in the United States. Lee County has 24.4 percent of its residents without health insurance and hospital statistics show that 35 percent of all ER visits are uninsured and most of these patients have no access to any follow-up care after leaving the Emergency Room,” Schroering said.

“And the problem is growing The cost of uncompensated care in Florida hospitals in 2002 was $3.7 billion and in 2003 this has swollen to $5.7 billion.

Schroering says President Obama’s healthcare plan falls short of addressing this problem and a health care package was passed with such urgency that much about coverage for the indigent was not well planned,” Schroering said.

“Much of his plan for the indigent and uninsured will not be implemented until 2014 and full implementation not until as late as 2020,” he said.

He went on to say that between now and then the ranks of uninsured, under-insured and the working poor will magnify and insurance cost will escalate to unsustainable levels causing individuals, families with businesses to drop coverage.

It is estimated that 15 to 20 million people will still remain uninsured after the full implementation of the Obama plan and undocumented residents are excluded in this plan from purchasing health insurance.

He sees this as a as a significant shortfall in the number of primary care physicians to take care of all the newly uninsured patients and this will take several years to address.

Schroering said Lee County Volunteers were lucky in obtaining furniture a week or so ago. A bank with two branches in Fort Myers and Cape Coral went out of business and a sale was held and the group brough all of the furniture and computers.

“We got a good deal and it’s all practically new. We will staff our offices now when we are able to build out the room at the new site,” he said.

Schroering said the group has attained 4,100 square feet in the new building next to the Microtel Inn and Suites.

“We will have to finishing the building of the interior to include the entrance, offices, and examination rooms,” Schroering said. A grant is being written to request funds to pay for the buildout of the site, he said. A dentist occupies another part of the building.

“We want to emphasize that our clinic is open to those uninsured and the working poor. We take no cash. With our plans, we will be doing follow-ups with those who come to us for medical help.

“If they need surgery or any other type of follow-up treatment, they will be seen by specialists and surgeons and again, this will cost them nothing,” he said.

And he said the board has filed for its 501 (C-3) status.

Why would Schroeing and other health officials decide to work for nothing to see the clinic become a success, he was asked.

Schroering said it’s giving back to the community of great need.

“We as health professionals can’t stand on the side where there is such a need for medical treatment here and in all of the county,” Schroering said.

“It also brings up the idea of helping people the way you would want to be treated if you found yourself in need of help but with no financial means to pay for it,” he said.

Lee County Volunteers in Medicine is a member of a national organization of Volunteers in Medicine which was founded in 1993. He said it is a proven model that meets and serves the needs of the uninsured, under-insured and the working poor in the communities they serve. Currently there are some 50 of these free clinics in the U.S. Schroeing said the local group has a working board that meets monthly and has made great strides now with a monthly cash flow.

“Our community has great needs. We have families without food, families without shelter or enough clothing, families without jobs and families with sick members with no access to healthcare without causing absolute financial devastation from which most will never recover.

“These problems have have life changing consequences. Most of these families are in these situations because of factors beyond their control and much of this is due to the economic collapse in the U.S. and the more profound cataclysm in Lee County.

Schroeing said health professionals cannot wait on the government to fix this cancer. It has to be faced head-on, he said.

“We must commit to a larger purpose and have a focus beyond ourselves for the sake of our community and for mankind. We have the capability to make a huge difference in the lives of many by simply donating a little of our time and our talents. Healthcare is our profession and we are responsible for the health of those that we treat and hence the health of our community.

“These lives in our community will improve when you work to benefit others that are less fortunate. In spite of the new healthcare law, we still need a frontline force and safety net for our community,” Schroering said.

He noted that often people fail to realize how much just one single person can do to change the world

“We all have the capabilities of making mammoth contributions that can change the world, as we know it today by focusing outside of ourselves. Dave Rory once said, “Never be afraid to try something new. Remember that a lone amateur built the Ark. A large group of professionals built the Titanic,” he said.

Schroering is chairman of Lee County Volunteers in Medicine. He is joined by a small army of others who meet and are making plans to get the new clinic opened by the beginning of next year.

Can it be done?

“Absolutely,” said Schroering.