Class opens with a taste test. “ยกMe gusta!” one woman exclaims to another after spearing a bite of vegetables with a fork. A chorus of Spanish erupts. It's Tuesday evening and things at Volunteers in Medicine are, literally, heating up.
Wafts of grilled veggies drift throughout the clinic from the conference room where a colorful, party-like scene is unfolding. Translators volley questions back and forth from the dozen Hispanic adults to the class coordinators. The students tonight are VIM clients enrolled in a free series of classes to learn how to manage their diabetes, a condition that frequently brings them into the clinic. A discussion of where to buy vegetables and how to sauté them at home ensues.
Meanwhile, a small cluster of children play with plastic toys on the waiting room floor at the feet of parents. Volunteer Judy Kampman, a woman with snow-colored hair and a long denim skirt, greets the children while making sure each one receives a book to take home, hand-selected by Kampman. In a small office on the backside of the clinic, Felip Ramos, a physician's assistant student, asks for advice after recounting some puzzling symptoms of a patient waiting in an exam room. Co-medical director Bob Hakala, MD, dressed casually in jeans and a polo shirt, leans back in his chair and suggests further diagnostic questions. Both men conclude that more lab tests are necessary.
Clinic hours run late on Tuesdays so patients can schedule appointments in the evening. Just about every person working in the clinic this evening, as well as on any given day, is a volunteer. It is this donated time, energy, and expertise that keeps this clinic, which serves low-income Deschutes County residents, up and running.
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Inside The Safety Net: Volunteers in Medicine fills in the gaps of an ailing health care system
Class opens with a taste test. “ยกMe gusta!” one woman exclaims to another after spearing a bite of vegetables with a fork. A chorus of
