Doctors Come Out Of Retirement To Serve San Francisco's Uninsured

Health professionals in the San Francisco area are coming out of retirement to run a new clinic dedicated to treating low-income residents with pressing health needs.

Many experiments to provide low-cost community health care have cropped up across the country, including clinics sponsored by medical schools and federally-supported clinics.

Clinic by the Bay, located in San Francisco, is set apart by its unique model: a center run primarily by former doctors, nurses and therapists who have given up retirement to volunteer their time to the under-served.

SF Gate reports that Clinic by the Bay is Northern California's first to be associated with Volunteers in Medicine, an organization founded 16 years ago that recruits retired health professionals to assist needy communities.

The center aims to serve a specific demographic -- uninsured residents of Excelsior, Outer Mission and Daly City who don't qualify for government programs.

Barbara Quinn, a 72-year-old registered nurse, tells SF Gate the endeavor is a win-win for both patients and healthcare professionals:

"People who are our age want to work in a field in which we're comfortable and can contribute. Today's retirees don't want to seal envelopes."

Find ways to contribute to similar organizations across the country by visiting the Volunteers in Medicine site.

Comments

[R.W. Sanders]

02:58 PM on 11/15/2010

I am convinced that a truly connected health care system could add years to my life. Almost every health problem I have encountered in the past few years could have been averted by better communication with a doctor. Too often, we are left reading something like WebMD and basically guessing and trying to self medicate. This almost always is a bad thing to do. However, if I had a question for my doctor and could email him and expect an answer in a reasonable time, I actually could have avoided one hospitalization. How can this country be operating in the twenty first century with a nineteenth century medical system? We have ignored the one thing that could make ALL our lives immeasurably better.

[whyus]

12:03 AM on 11/14/2010

I'm a 3rd generation San Franciscan. Articles like this make me love the City even more.

[GretchenPA]

01:36 PM on 11/10/2010

Really, us atheist homosexuals in SF?

Did you also know that there is FREE citywide healthcare here? Yes, if you live in SF proper (which does not include the demo that the above clinic targets), you get free health care. Free. And we have great schools and high personal incomes. Unfortunately because this is a very great place to live, chock full of very educated, motivated people housing and cost of living of very expensive. But really once you live here, it is hard to go anywhere else.

It also sometimes really saddens me because I see what our country could be if we only could move ourselves forward. Instead we choose to moulder. But I will be riding out the parade of horrors enjoying my 6 figure income in our godless den of ill-repute.

[davesf]

03:50 PM on 11/10/2010

Ditto, though I'm not quite at 6 figures any more!

[Connie Markley Boppre]

11:04 AM on 11/10/2010

such angels....

[VanessaFas]

10:30 AM on 11/10/2010

What's sad is that some of these doctors were most likely forced to retire due to excessive malpractice insurance premiums. That's why many doctors are retiring today. Thank God for people like this, coming up to help others, when no one else will, or can. They may be the only ones to help save us.

[R.W. Sanders]

03:11 PM on 11/15/2010

Vanessa, your premise is incorrect. Malpractice is a large topic of conversation because it is easy and everyone understands the concept. But it really is a minor problem for doctors. In California, we have a cap on punitive damages for malpractice of $250,000. It's been around for years. It has been non effective as a curb on malpractice insurance cost. Compare with any other state and malpractice premiums do not vary all that much, whether there is a cap or not. The only real effect of a cap, is that it makes it unprofitable for a lawyer to bring suit. The general rule is that only if someone dies will a lawyer take a case, and even then he might decline. You see, he can use his time much more profitably than to protect the lives of the unfortunate. I know a doctor who misbehaved horribly in treatment of a particular patient. This patient was hospitalized in ICU for weeks. No attorney would take the case because the patient survived, disabled and with a ruined life, but alive. Protecting other people from medical behavior like this now does not happen, because it is not cost effective. That puts you, Vanessa, in danger just as it does everyone else. That is the deal on malpractice. Sorry to lecture, but with the moneyed interests pounding this myth into people's heads, and using all media as weapons of disinformation, most are unaware of the actual facts. Good luck.

[Anoushah Alie]

05:03 AM on 11/10/2010

extremely touching and patriotic!

[lcelidon]

05:00 AM on 11/10/2010

There is a lot of media censorship........Canadian voices and the truth about their model have been censored.....

[maryjflyfree]

04:50 AM on 11/10/2010

God bless those doctors for being a blessing to those less fortunate.... TRUE patriots IMHO !

[spytheweb]

03:11 AM on 11/10/2010

There are still some real Americans left. We will have a single payer system and it will be the death of private insurance.

[ipresumelikely]

03:51 AM on 11/10/2010

True but we're gonna have to wait until the rest of America hits bottom before they are willing to consider the solution that single payer is. Of course, working class Americans are notorious worshipers of the corporate elite, and they have great desire to suffer so this could take a while.

[maryjflyfree]

04:51 AM on 11/10/2010

that will be just fine with me.... enough with this healthcare for profit madness !

[Forever True]

02:59 AM on 11/10/2010

My city rocks! That's why I and all my liberal friends live here. We put humanity miles and miles above corporatism and the milk of human kindness way above corporate profits.

San Francisco - I am so very proud of you!

[maryjflyfree]

04:53 AM on 11/10/2010

Yes !!!! F/F

[davesf]

03:51 PM on 11/10/2010

Seconded!

[FogBelter]

02:24 AM on 11/10/2010

Gotta love my town, and the people who call it home.

[sfbbmom]

07:14 PM on 11/10/2010

Another reason we need single payer health care. Go SF, go Giants, and hats off to these retirees.

[zanzy]

02:03 AM on 11/10/2010

I love SF! I used to live their and I am trying to move back. Wish me luck!!!

[maryjflyfree]

04:55 AM on 11/10/2010

good luck my friend... it is a beautiful city :D

[mea25]

01:37 AM on 11/10/2010

SAN FRANCISCO: Leading the way!!!!! The beautiful, amazing, compassionate City by the Bay. We have all left our hearts in San Francisco.

[spytheweb]

03:14 AM on 11/10/2010

I don't care for sanctuary cities but i do like people helping other Americans.

[maryjflyfree]

04:54 AM on 11/10/2010

Ditto.... F/F

[darth geekboy]

01:19 AM on 11/10/2010

wow.....all this from a place filled with supposedly godless heathens, san francisco.

[darth geekboy]

01:21 AM on 11/10/2010

oh, i know why......

cuz liberals believe in selfless "socialist" acts.

[TeacupKitten]

01:09 AM on 11/10/2010

Incredible. There are good people in this world. Wonderful read :)