Medical Providers Care for the Uninsured

In the 1970s, Jeannie Prothro was a registered nurse at a small town hospital in Texas. She was the type of nurse any person could relate to because she offered a personal approach that went beyond procedures. One of her trademarks was her healing touch of massage that so many patients welcomed. Her love of her profession and true desire to help others had no boundaries. As the mother of four children, she was surprised one weekend when an inexperienced young motorcycle rider wrecked in front of her house. She ran out to help him instructing her two older children to bring towels. She kept him still and stable with pressure on his bleeding wounds until an ambulance arrived. A few years later a drunk driver wrecked into an electrical pole just as Jeannie and her youngest daughter were leaving a grocery store. She assisted the inebriated lady even as the woman screamed and cursed at her. Still later in her career, a call was made to the hospital emergency room that a man having a heart attack would soon be arriving. She waited by the emergency room entrance and upon seeing the man's wife drive up, she ran out, as he collapsed by his car. She performed C.P.R. in the parking lot, ultimately saving his life.

Unfortunately, Jeannie became a patient, herself, when at thirty years old she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. She did everything possible to survive her deadly disease, but in a sad, ironic twist of fate, at thirty five, she lost her life due to medical negligence. The radiation team, at a large city hospital, inadvertently set her radiation dose too high. Her body was destroyed by the very treatment that was designed to help her. Throughout her illness, she was not immune to the growing cost of her medical treatments and the high cost of health insurance. After her death, adding insult to injury, her husband received a costly medical bill from the hospital. Although Jeannie lived only a short period of time, her spirit of giving to others and immense knowledge of medicine, made her a true example of the meaning of health care.

Many doctors and nurses around the country have the same caring spirit as Jeannie. They enter the medical profession to make a difference in a person's life remembering that their role as care givers is to give care. As our country battles the bottom line cost of health care, many people have lost their employer sponsored health insurance plans. However, volunteer networks around the country from Pennsylvania to North Carolina to California provide a place where medical professionals can combat the health care crisis without the hindrance or interference from health insurance companies. A recent study by Harvard medical researchers ("Health Insurance and Mortality in US Adults", American Journal of Public Health) reports that "the uninsured are more likely to die than are the privately insured." Caring doctors and nurses have become aware of this fact. They have moved to flexible payment plans aimed at keeping thousands of the uninsured healthy. They have reverted back to the values of old time doctors as they earn whatever a patient can pay for their services. These medical providers, like Jeannie, are not looking for a paycheck. Their ultimate goal is to save lives. At the same time, most of America's sick are not looking for a free hand out. They want to contribute to their own well being. To find doctors and clinics that offer a low fee or sliding scale option for the uninsured go to: http://www.needymeds.org/free_clinics.taf.