Every day, the wonderful generosity of our volunteers and supporters renews hope for people who need of primary care and other health services. Since 1995, the Volunteers in Medicine Clinic has been quietly caring for residents of Martin County who have no other access to health care. Our patients are legal adult residents who do not qualify for Medicaid or Medicare, do not have private health insurance, and have household incomes below 200 percent of the federal poverty level.
We meet a critical need in the community thanks to the compassion of volunteer physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, nurses and medical assistants. Our non-medical volunteers perform many vital functions, including screening and greeting patients. At VIM Clinic, we are a family. Many of our volunteers have been here for years and have spent thousands of hours helping patients. In fact, several have been honored with the Presidential Volunteer Services Award.
Our community partners include Martin Health System, which contributes more than $6 million a year in laboratory, diagnostic and other services to our patients. Other partners are the Martin County Medical Society, the Martin County Health Department, the Friends of Volunteers in Medicine Clinic, pharmaceutical companies and local physicians who agree to take our patient referrals.
In addition to general medicine, we can provide access to a number of specialties such as dermatology, gastroenterology, gynecology, neurology, ophthalmology, orthopedics, otolaryngology, podiatry, psychiatry and urology.
For every dollar donated, we provide more than $12 worth of medical services. Donors can rest assured that all funds benefit the local community and 98 percent of our budget is spent directly on patient services. In other words, a meager 2 percent goes toward administration and fundraising. In 2010, we provided $8.2 million in medical services on a budget of $718,000, thanks to the generous contributions of our volunteers, partners, local businesses and other community supporters.
