Doctors Donate Time To Provide Free Medical Services To Polk County’s Uninsured

Many Polk County residents are grateful for the Lakeland Volunteers in Medicine Healthcare facility.

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"It's just an amazing, amazing asset for this community to have and we're just really thankful that it's here," said Kevin McWilliams, chairman of the board for Lakeland Volunteers in Medicine.

McWilliams says it provides healthcare to the working uninsured in Polk County.

"These people fall into a gap where they don't get healthcare coverage through their employer and they can't afford coverage on their own," he shared.

Two doctors created the clinic in 2001 after seeing a need for it in the community.

"Dr. Spoto and Dr. Barden worked with an idea and this is what it turned into a clinic to help people into what I consider a full-service healthcare facility," McWilliams explained.

The healthcare facility has helped more than 30,000 patients. It provides everything from general medicine to dentistry.

"We have some great community partners that if they need things that are more advanced they will provide those services for us," Mcwilliams added. "Colonoscopies, cancer screenings, cancer treatments, things like that. We partner with other people who can provide for our patients."
McWilliams says the clinic is funded by grants and community partners.

"For every dollar that we take in and spend. We provide about $5 in free healthcare services to our patients," he said.

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