Question: How did you come to start a Volunteers in Medicine clinic in Bloomington?

Answer: I am an orthopedic hand surgeon and practiced for 35 years. There were many people who could not come to doctors because they have no means. I would see people once in my office, and they couldn't come for a follow-up.

One day I attended a national meeting and heard about VIM. It was started in 1993 by retired physicians in South Carolina who decided to establish a small volunteer operation for indigent people.

Initially, this was established to give retired physicians something to do without overhead.

I retired in 2005. I started to ask community members in Bloomington, "Do you think that something like that could happen in this town?" Almost every single one said, "Let's go ahead."

Q: When did you open?

A: We opened April 23, 2007. We talked with Bloomington Hospital, which has been a great supporter. They said if you assure you will take care of these poor people, we will be with you. The hospital not only runs our labs, they also assist us by contributing a nurse practitioner, pharmacist and a nurse.

Q: How many hours are you open?

A: We are open more than 40 hours a week. So many people cannot leave their work to come to see us. So we are open Monday and Thursday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. and the rest of the time 8 to 5.

The appointment, exam, lab work and medications are all covered. We really don't charge patients anything other than a small handling fee.

Q: Who is eligible?

A: You must be a Monroe or Owen County resident, within 200 percent of the federal poverty level and be uninsured. About seven of the 10 people we see are working people.

Q: Are most of your doctors retired?

A: There are about 12 retired physicians there and 50 or 60 others who do community services. We have dentists, women's health, mental health, a neurologist, optometrists and others.

We identify our clinic as a narcotic-free clinic. Otherwise you invite an element you don't want to serve.

Q: What type of response have you had?

A: We had almost 10,000 visits in our first year. At the end of this year, hopefully, we will move into a 5,500-square-foot building.