title: Reducing the impact of the health care access crisis through volunteerism: a means, not an end.
abstract: In the absence of meaningful health reform, Florida implemented a volunteer health care program to strengthen the existing safety net. Since program implementation in 1992, over $1 billion of services have been provided to uninsured and underserved populations. Currently, over 20,000 volunteers participate statewide. Key incentives for provider participation have been an organized framework for volunteering and liability protection through state-sponsored sovereign immunity. Volunteerism, although not a solution to the health care crisis, serves as a valuable adjunct pending full-scale health care reform.
authors.affiliation: Division of Health Affairs, Florida State University College of Medicine, 1115 W Call St, Tallahassee, FL 32306-4300, USA. karen.geletko@med.fsu.edu
authors.forename: Karen W
authors.initials: KW
authors.lastname: Geletko
authors.forename: Leslie M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Beitsch
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lundberg
authors.forename: Robert G
authors.initials: RG
authors.lastname: Brooks
mesh_terms: D003695:Delivery of Health Care; D005431:Florida; D018166:Health Care Reform; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006302:Health Services Research; D006801:Humans; D008507:Medically Underserved Area; D017057:Medically Uninsured; D015397:Program Evaluation; D014838:Volunteers; D000078329:Workforce