Be Healthy Bloomington Campaign Concludes with Celebration of Volunteers in Medicine Clinic One-Year Anniversary

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 4, 2008

For more information, contact: Nancy Woolery, Health Projects Manager, Community and Family Resources Department, City of Bloomington, 349-3851


Bloomington, IN -The community is invited to join in celebrating the one-year anniversary of the opening of the Volunteers in Medicine Clinic on Wednesday, April 9. Volunteers in Medicine is a free medical clinic serving Monroe and Owen Counties and is community owned, operated and financed.

"This is a wonderful opportunity for the public to visit the clinic and hear about all of the services the medical community is providing to the low-income uninsured residents of Monroe and Owen Counties," Mayor Mark Kruzan said. "Volunteers in Medicine has made a very real, very positive impact on the community in the past year, and it will continue to do so."

The event will be held at the Volunteers in Medicine Clinic, 333 E. Miller Drive and will begin at 5:30 p.m. with opening remarks from Kruzan. Light refreshments and clinic tours will be available during the celebration.

In 2006 concerned citizens in Monroe and Owen Counties came together to discuss how to address the problem of the uninsured in our community. The National Volunteers in Medicine Clinic was chosen because of its history of success, and local physician Dr. Rajih Haddawi was chosen to lead the local clinic.

The clinic opened on April 23, 2007, and has provided quality primary and preventative healthcare, treatment for both acute and chronic conditions, and health education such as tobacco cessation classes and nutrition education that helps empower individuals to take responsibility for their own well-being.

Volunteers in Medicine meets the needs of low-income, uninsured individuals without cost to the patients through the provision of primary medical care, specialty referrals, medications and ancillary services in cooperation with Bloomington Hospital and the local medical community. A partnership with Southern Indiana Pediatrics has made it possible for the children of eligible clinic patients to receive free health care in their offices.

Only a few months after the clinic's opening new programs were added, which include the Orthopedics clinic, Spine clinic, Podiatry and Neurology, Electromyography and Electrocardiogram screenings, and a strong Mental/Behavioral health component.

Of the 58 Volunteers in Medicine clinics nationwide, our local clinic is one of two that currently offers behavioral health and mental health counseling. This is made possible by community partnerships that provide these components and services of the clinic.

Anyone interested in attending the one year celebration should RSVP with Heather Allen of the Bloomington Hospital Foundation at 353-9528 or [email protected], or contact Nancy Woolery of the City of Bloomington at 349-3851, or [email protected].
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