Sacramento Physicians Initiative to Reach out, Innovate, and Teach - SPIRIT Project
Mission Statement:
The mission of SPIRIT is to engage volunteer physicians in the delivery of quality, compassionate medical care to the uninsured and to link volunteer physicians with interested schools to teach lessons that seeks to empower school-aged children, to make healthy lifestyle choices now and in the future.
(See Adopt-A-School)
The Sacramento Physicians' Initiative to Reach out, Innovate and Teach (SPIRIT) Project recruits physicians to volunteer in county and community clinics in an effort to enhance primary care medical services available to Sacramento's uninsured. The project also offers a specialty service network comprised of office referrals to participating SPIRIT physicians, "specialty sub" clinics located within existing county clinics and hernia and cataract repair surgeries done at no charge at local hospitals. SPIRIT medical services are completely free of charge to the patient. To access SPIRIT services, an individual must be a patient of a local clinic that is participating in the SPIRIT project. SPIRIT is unable to accept any patient self-referrals.
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Each year SPIRIT Volunteer physicians donate in excess of 1,800 hours and treat an average of 2,100+ patients.
To date over 35,000 patients have been served, 580 surgeries have been donated. The Project is comprised of a collaborative partnership including the Medical Society, Mercy Healthcare Sacramento, UC Davis Health System, Kaiser Permanente, and Sutter Medical Center, Sacramento / Sutter Medical Group. Other groups participating by donating in-kind support include Sacramento Anesthesia Medical Group, Diagnostic Pathology Medical Group, Central Anesthesia Service Exchange Medical Group, Radiological Associates of Sacramento Medical Group, and Northern California Lions Sight Association.
The effects that the project has had for SPIRIT patients are best described by their comments about the program. One patient referred to the physician that helped him as a "God send" and many found the SPIRIT Project to be of great help when they had no where else to go for medical care. In a survey of patients who had received a free hernia repair from SPIRIT volunteers, sixty-six percent of the patients returned to the work force.
SPIRIT volunteers find their service to be satisfying. They have noted that patients are very appreciative and sincerely express their gratitude. Volunteers are happy to have the opportunity to help the less fortunate and feel that they are making a difference in patients' lives.
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