About VIMO
VIMO is a non-profit medical clinic in Port Angeles, Washington. We provide limited health care services to Clallam and Jefferson County residents, and to visitors who have no health insurance and no other health care options available to them.
Our operations are funded by generous donations from foundations, local companies and individuals committed to providing health care to those truly in need. Corporations give in-kind support and contribute through United Way.
All medical care at VIMO is provided by a small support staff and volunteers, primarily from the health professions. Many of our volunteers are retired doctors, nurses and nurse practitioners. Our hours and services are defined, primarily, by the volunteers who are able to provide them.
Beginning January 1st, 2008, a $5 administrative fee will be charged for each visit—payable at the time of the visit. By paying a small fee, patients will be helping to cover some of our operating costs and keep their clinic open.
Why We Do It
The Culture of Caring
When the first VIM Clinic was conceived, organizing members believed that everyone would benefit in some fashion from a community committed to helping one another. They recognized that traditional medical clinics typically provide efficient medical treatments and procedures, but often at the expense of caring. So they wisely identified elements to include in a clinic environment that would enhance caring about and for one another.
The “Culture of Caring” approach is based on an ethical standard in medicine that acknowledges how people are treated during a clinic visit is as important as the actual medical care they receive. People who come to a VIM clinic are our friends and neighbors, good people in need of help. Surviving on limited resources, they often exhibit great courage simply trying to get though each day.
The VIM “Culture of Caring” recognizes the strengths of those in need and respects their dignity. We seek to heal not only physical illness, but also the injury cause by bias, prejudice and indifference. Policies and procedures for implementing and maintaining the “Culture of Caring” must be established as a required component in all Volunteers in Medicine clinics.
For the VIM Clinic volunteers, their primary responsibility is to create a nurturing, non-judgmental clinic environment for all patients and fellow volunteers. It is the established belief of the Volunteers in Medicine Institute and its Alliance membership that those who give care within the “Culture of Caring” experience as much healing as those who receive the care.
Grants
We'd like to thank the following organization for their grant support.
- Ben & Myrtle Walkling Memorial Trust
- Clallam County Physicians Benefit Fund
- Community and Rural Health, Health System Resource Grant
- Episcopal Charities Appeal
- Olympic Medical Center
- Peninsula Daily News Fund
- Port Angeles Rotary Grant
- The Albert Haller Foundation
- Washington Health Foundation
- Whatton Family Foundation (Gift)
Our Mission
To understand and serve the health and wellness needs of the medically underserved who live, work or visit on the Olympic Peninsula
Our Vision Statement
May we have the eyes to see those rendered invisible and excluded, open arms and hearts to reach out and include them, healing hands to touch their lives with love and, in the process, heal ourselves.
