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The Volunteer Physician Network (VPN)

The Volunteer Physician Network (VPN) consists of doctors in Polk County committed to providing quality health care to low-income and uninsured people living in our community. This project was initiated by Health Access Partnership and Polk County Medical Society and was developed by a community coalition. The VPN is a system for coordination of donated medical care and services provided by physicians, hospitals, pharmacies and other providers in central Iowa.

The VPN consists of primary care and specialty physicians who have volunteered to donate their time and expertise to treat patients in need. The care is coordinated through the Polk County Medical Society on a rotating basis so that the free care is evenly distributed across the medical community.

Each patient is pre-screened to determine if they are eligible for existing assistance programs (i.e. Hawk-i, Medicaid, etc.). If not, they will be treated by one of our HAP Volunteer Physicians. Each patient that qualifies for free care is tracked in the HAP MIS system in order to provide a short history and other pertinent information that was previously unavailable for continuity of care. The value of the care rendered is also tracked so the physician will know the dollar value they have donated. This information will be reported annually to each participating physician.

If you are a local physician, please consider participating in this important program. Your participation in this program is what makes it successful.