Protection for doctors for indigent is logical

Pasco County has eight physicians prepared to participate in a new volunteer program to serve the medically needy. A counterpart effort in Polk County has 148. The difference? Polk County's 9-year-old arrangement includes a provision extending state protection to the doctors from liability claims. This week, Pasco commissioners blessed duplicating the idea here and formed We Care Pasco.

It's a logical maneuver. In order to be granted so-called sovereign immunity, doctors must volunteer their time under the auspices of a government agency. We Care of Pasco will be affiliated with the state Health Department and Pasco County's social services division will screen applicants and schedule the medical appointments. The program is being pushed by Sen. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey, and Pasco Health Department director Dr. David Johnson as a way to recruit specialists and medical facilities to help treat the indigent.

We Care Pasco joins the list of outlets for providing care to the poor including county health department clinics, CARES, the Good Samaritan Clinic, Premiere Community Healthcare and Farmer's Self Help.

Still, there is more to be done. The state estimates more than 70,0000 people in Pasco County are without health insurance and the downturn in the economy is expected to make the numbers worse. Meanwhile, 91,000 adults have no personal health care provider and close to 40,000 Pasco County adults may not be able to get medical care in any given year.

The result is a substantial population that receives little preventive care and a reliance on visits to the emergency room, the most expensive way to deliver treatment.

Johnson told commissioners the Pasco program will be modeled after the We Care of Polk. It started with no patient referrals in 1999. Last year, 1,000 patients were referred to the network and physicians treated 237 - the sickest of the sick, according to Johnson - who met income guidelines. The value of the donated health care for 2007 was estimated at $1-million.

It is an impressive effort and duplicating it here is a welcome addition to the network of providers already serving Pasco's needy.

[Last modified January 24, 2008, 01:09:35]