Tough times have strained health care systems around the country, increasing costs for patients and providers. A growing number of clinics are using an old-fashioned approach to provide affordable treatment.
In Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood, the County Doctor clinic attracts thousands of patients who don’t have insurance. Although it’s called “Country Doctor,” the clinic is nowhere near the outskirts of Seattle. Clinic directors say it’s about an old-fashioned way of doing business.
“The metaphor was to invoke a kinder, gentler age,” Medical Director Dr. Rich Kovar said. “The family doctor who takes responsibility for you and your family.”
The clinic takes care of people regardless of insurance or income and they make house calls.
“Nobody’s turned away from here for inability to pay,” Kovar said.
“They are asked to pay on a sliding scale toward the cost of their care, based on what their income allows, but no one is ever sent to collections.”
The majority of the clinic’s Board of Directors is patients, some who’ve been getting treatment there for years.
Tova Ross called the clinic “a wonderful place.”
“This is one of the only places that I could go, that take people on a sliding scale that don't have insurance,” she said.
They provide the best care possible and try to keep costs down by utilizing a lab and pharmacy on-site.
“They kind of go the extra mile,” Ross said.
The clinic recently received an award from the state for being cost effective, but budget problems in Olympia threaten some of the money that helps keep the doors open.
“We've lost our state grant, we get virtually no county money,” Dr. Kovar said. Proposed cuts to Basic Health and Disability Lifeline mean the clinic could lose more than a million dollars.
Even faced with deep cuts, clinic operators say they will do what they can to keep the doors open and continue treating everyone who comes in for help.
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