SARASOTA COUNTY
Although Sarasota is one of the
wealthiest counties in the state, it is also home to a
sizeable community of impoverished folks who cannot
afford health care. They often are disabled or have jobs
with meager salaries and no health or dental benefits.
YOUR
HELP IS NEEDED!
If you are a licensed health care
professional, your skills are in demand, whether in your
own office or a clinic setting. Non-medical personnel are
greatly needed and appreciated, as well.
"The gift of
time is priceless." unknown
Licensed
health care professionals
Sarasota County Health
Department:
Opportunities abound for health
professionals to volunteer in the health department.
Among the needs are assistance in primary care,
dentistry, assisting with immunization clinics and family
planning.
Senior Friendship
Center:
The Senior Friendship Center
provides medical and dental care to financially
distressed seniors in its facilities in Sarasota and
Venice. It does this through the volunteer services of
retired physicians, dentists, and nurses. In the
states fiscal year 97/98, the 81 retired physician
and nurse volunteers in Sarasota Senior Friendship Center
clinics provided approximately $416,000 worth of free
care in 2,876 patient visits.
Community Medical
Clinic:
Sarasota Memorial Hospital hosts
the Community Medical Clinic twice per week. Medical
volunteers treat 50 low income individuals in each clinic
session, with some physicians accepting clinic patients
in their private offices at no charge.
Sarasota County Health
Department:
Health department staff is very
grateful to the many local nurses who assist them in the
schools to immunize students entering seventh grade.
Local dentists are also a great help; they volunteer
their time to treat the departments patients when
the staff dentist is on vacation and at other times, as
well.
The department is currently
seeking Florida-licensed volunteers who can provide
professional services in medicine, nursing, and
dentistry. If you would like more information on
volunteering in the health department, please contact
Glenn Mackennon at (941) 954-2880 or e-mail him at Glenn_Mackennon@doh.state.fl.us.
"Lifes
most persistent and urgent question is: What are you
doing for others?"
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Senior
Friendship Center
Walking into the Senior Friendship
Center is fun. Music from the 40s fills the
air while some dance and some sit back to enjoy the
experience; at other times folks are engaged in lively
games, exercise and discussions. Excellent works created
by local artists grace the center. Tucked away behind the
merriment in both Sarasota and Venice are fully equipped
medical and dental clinics where volunteer health care
professionals minister to the needs of older adults who
otherwise would be unable to afford care.
Volunteers in the Senior
Friendship Center are retired, as are the vast majority
of clients. The retired medical professionals obtain
"limited licenses" from the Boards of Medicine
and Nursing. Retired dentists practice through a special
non-profit permit that Senior Friendship Center received
from the Board of Dentistry.
New volunteers are always welcome.
The most urgently needed specialties at this time in
Sarasotas clinic are pulmonologists, dental
assistants and dental hygienists. In the Venice clinic
the needs are for cardiologists, dermatologists,
podiatrists, dental assistants and dental hygienists.
![](../images/sarasota02fishmant.jpg)
Click on photo
above for full size version.
Volunteers Samuel
Kalush, M.D., Sherwin Fishman, D.D.S., and Catherine
Hassard "in action".
![](../images/sarasota03janet.jpg)
Click on photo
above for full size version.
Jane Icely is the
Health Services Director of Senior Friendship
Centers clinics in Sarasota, Venice, Fort Myers,
and Naples.
If you would like more information
about Senior Friendship Center and its volunteer
opportunities, contact The Senior Friendship Center, 1888
Brother Geneen Way, Sarasota, FL 34236 Attn: Lori
Hoffert. Phone (941) 955-2122.
"We each must
do our part, and give as long as we are able while
we have something to give."
Albert Loden
Community
Medical Clinic
Sarasota Memorial Hospital
established the Community Medical Clinic in 1992 to bring
free health care to its impoverished neighbors. Paid
staff and lay volunteers assist volunteer doctors,
nurses, psychologists, and other licensed health care
professionals in treating the medically indigent at no
charge. Two hundred eighty three health care providers
assist in the clinic and/or see clinic patients in their
private offices. Many of the clinics patients
present with complicated problems requiring more care
than can be provided in one clinic visit. Since the
hospital donates all necessary inpatient and ancillary
services, volunteering in this setting reminds doctors of
the way medicine used to be, before the advent of managed
care companies took over the role of medical
decision-making.
The atmosphere in the Community
Medical Clinic is very warm and positive, with friendly,
easy-going banter between volunteers, staff and patients.
Smiles and jokes often accompany the quality medical
treatment and make this caring environment one in which
volunteers want to return again and again. Clients
frequently show their appreciation with handwritten notes
and homemade gifts for volunteers.
![](../images/sarasota05terryt.jpg)
Click on photo
above for full size version.
Clinic volunteers
Cornelius OConnor, M.D. and Terry Praeger, Ph.D.
interacting with patients.
The Community Medical
Clinic is always pleased when new professionals
volunteer. Their current most urgent need is for
specialists in orthopedics and gynecology. In addition to
licensed health care professionals, the clinic seeks the
volunteer services of lay persons to perform a wide
variety of functions such as transporting patients,
translating, computer work, medical records, etc. If you
would like to be part of this vital team, contact:
Sarasota Memorial Hospital, 1700 S. Tamiami Trail,
Sarasota, FL 34239-3555 Attn: Bobbie Gray, Community
Medical Clinic Director or Kathleen Carla, Office
Manager, or call them at (941) 917-2566. They may also be
reached by e-mail: bobbie-gray@smh.com or kathleen-carla@smh.com
"Small things,
done with great love, bring joy and peace." --
Mother Teresa
Non-Medical
Personnel
Sarasota County Health Department:
The Sarasota County Health
Department has an extensive volunteer program. Twelve
persons volunteer as Spanish translators for the health
departments clients. They not only translate during
clinics, but also accompany clients when they must go to
specialist appointments. When not busy with clients,
these volunteers develop Spanish versions of the health
departments forms, flyers, and its brochure.
Other volunteers assist with
medical records, the well child clinic, and with
community-wide health promotion efforts.
The health department has diverse
volunteer needs that may interest folks who want to serve
their community. These include: editing the Healthy Start
Newsletter, translating, data entry, marketing, strategic
planning, medical records functions, making phone calls
to remind clients of appointments, surveying clients,
delivering informational material to local agencies and
doctors, and designing
brochures/flyers/posters/handbooks.
![](../images/sarasota06merlet.jpg)
Merle Dimino has
been with the health department for several years,
volunteering in health promotion, translation, and home
visits. "Its a lot of fun. If it wasnt,
I wouldnt be here."
If you are interested in further
information about volunteering at the Sarasota County
Health Department, please contact Glenn Mackennon at the
health department at (941) 954-2880 or email him at Glenn_Mackennon@doh.state.fl.us.
"Unless
someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is
going to get better.
Its not." Dr. Seuss in "The
Lorax"
Contact
Information
Postal
address, telephone and fax:
- Region
8 Coordinator:
-
- Wendy
Wilderman, M.P.H.
Lee County Health
Department
3920 Michigan Ave.
Ft. Myers, FL 33916-2205
(941) 332-9546 (SC)
743-1546
FAX (941) 332-9656 (SC)
743-1656
- State
Coordinator:
-
- Shannon
Lease, M.S.
Department of Health
Headquarters
BIN #A13
4052 Bald Cypress Way
Tallahassee FL 32399-1722
Telephone (850) 245-4104
(SC)205-4104
FAX (850)
414-6091 (SC)994-6091
Electronic mail:
- Volunteer
opportunities contact regional
coordinator: Wendy_Wilderman@doh.state.fl.us
- General
Program Information: Shannon_Lease@doh.state.fl.us
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Copyright
© 2000 Department of Health
Last
modified: August
21, 2000 15:16 |
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