RotoCare helps Concord Uninsured

As the nation struggles with the dilemma of health care, the Rotary Clubs are doing a small part to lessen the anguish in our neighborhood, 15 people a time once a week. The Rotary International Clubs are famous for their ‘service above self’ projects that strike at polio in India, water conditions in Ethiopia, earthquake hardships in Italy and also locally for a range of projects. In the Bay Area there were 9 RotoCare Clinics set up by Rotary Club alliances to provide some medical care outreach to the uninsured. Now for the first time in 13 years there is going to be a new RotoCare Clinic and it is formed right here in Concord joining Mountain View, and San Jose amongst others in having its own community effort RotoCare medical clinic.

Spearheaded by the Concord Rotary Club whose current president Steve Wolfe is a retired Thoracic & Cardiovascular Surgeon, the mobile clinic van is parked outside the Cambridge Elementary School in the Monument Corridor on Thursday nights containing two full examination rooms and a staging area. This van, loaned by the John Muir Health, is positioned outside the multi-use room that acts as the waiting room for the RotoCare group. The group is a core of two doctors and two registered nurses assisted by 6 volunteers, mostly Rotarians, who see patients on appointment between 5Pm and 9PM on Thursdays. Those patients make appointments the same day by calling (925) 429-6409 after 1PM and then coming down for their examination/consulting the same day.

The criterion is simple: you need help and you do not have insurance. When asked about the aspect that some of his patients may be residents with illegal status, Steve Wolfe echoed the Rotarians world over in the sentiment that service is given to a community first and foremost. Pain and suffering does not discriminate and neither does the Rotary.

The RotoCare has some restrictions: they do not dispense or carry narcotics-pain medicines, do not give vaccines and do not currently have a gynecologist. However, in only their second week of operation in Concord, the RotoCare has seen a wide range of conditions, and age groups. About 80% of the patients so far have been the working poor whose jobs do not provide health care. The people have come from as far as Brentwood as well as nearby Walnut Creek though the core of the patients are Concordians. The plan calls for starting with seeing 15 people each Thursday night and then leading up to a maximum of about 25. Appointments are necessary to avoid over crowding and protect patients from waiting times and to allow the doctors to have about 20 minutes with each patient.

Eventually Rotary hopes to expand the service capacity to include some specialist. Doctor Wolfe is looking for doctors and nurses who are willing to donate their time to the effort that costs over $150,000 a year to provide. Those costs are mostly in things such as X-rays, lab work and related pathologist reports that are ordered by the clinic on behalf of the patients and provided by places such as John Muir Labs. The donors to the efforts include the Rotary Clubs, John Muir Health, Kaiser Permanente, La Casa Via (Real Estate) and others that can help. If you can help you can donate to RotoCare and if you are a doctor or a nurse that can volunteer then contact Dr. Steve Wolfe.