The meeting was called to order by President Elect Kristin Keller who was filling in for President Lynn King. Lynn was out of town and enjoying the addition of a new grandson, Harry. Congratulations Lynn and family!
Kevin Courtney offered the prayer and led the pledge to the flag.
Announcements:
Kristin shared that she attended two days of President Elect Training over the weekend in preparation for the 2021-2022 Rotary year. RI president "Zoomed in" from India.
Saturday March 6 is ROCS - Rotarians Offering Community Service.
Kristin collected Happy $$
Speaker:
Jen Gaitlin, director of Volunteers in Medicine shared information about the clinic. The mission of VIM is "to understand and serve the health and wellness needs of the medically underserved and their households who live or work on Hilton Head and Daufuskie Islands.". It was started in 1993 by Dr. Jack McConnell and a pioneer group of physicians. Dr. McConnell's wife is still active. The clinic performs over 50,000 volunteer hours annually with 27,000 visits annually. There are 110 physicians, 27 dentists, 23 medical specialists, and 500 nursing and lay volunteers. VIM receives no federal funds and operates with contributions and grants. Patients come mostly from off-plantation areas such as Gum Tree Rd,, the airport area, Cordillo Pkwy, Spanish Wells and Daufuskie. They serve only people who live or work on Hilton Head Island or Daufuskie. The services that are provided are: medical, dental, vision, pharmacy, pediatrics, gynecology, diabetes and hypertension clinics, wellness and support groups (they partner with the Island Rec Center. Jen also spoke about how COVID-19 has affected the clinic and its services. Project Isolate Safe is a program where the clinic provides free housing, isolation supplies and food for COVID patients. the objective is to reduce the spread of the virus within the lower income population. It is a collaboration between VIM, Deep Well, Greater Island Committee and HUD. The food is provided by Deep Well. The clinic was approved in December to administer the vaccine and they are currently waiting for their supply. They will be offering the vaccine to their current patients first. In two to three months it is expected that there will be a surplus of the vaccine. Interesting reading would be "Circle of Caring" by Jack McConnell which tells how VIM was founded. Our clinic, the original VIM, has since been replicated 92 times. There are over 10,000 patients that have been served by the clinic. Qualifications are that they live or work in Hilton Head or Daufuskie Islands, and must be below 200% of the income poverty level, and must provide proof. Covid has made it necessary for them to do deep cleaning every night. Screenings are also done in the parking lot before entering the building and 6 foot spacing is maintained. The goal is to keep patients out of the hospital ER and VIM has been successful in saving the hospital $5 million per year. You can find out more by visiting vimclinic.org