Sat, May 24, 2008 (2:05 a.m.)

Dr. Florence Jameson is making great strides toward making Nevada the 21st state that has a free clinic affiliated with Volunteers in Medicine.

This national organization got started after a number of retired doctors, dentists and nurses opened a free clinic 14 years ago in Hilton Head, S.C.

Because this clinic was so successful — today it has more than 200 medical professionals on its volunteer roster — VIM formed to share information with others across the country also interested in opening free clinics.

Jameson, a past president of the Clark County Medical Society who has been practicing locally for 20 years, derives inspiration from her childhood in San Diego.

She told Las Vegas Sun reporter Marshall Allen that her single mother, who was raising five children, turned frequently to a family doctor who would “graciously take care of us for nothing.”

That led her, she said, to make this promise to herself and God: “One day I will give back.”

A free clinic — Volunteers in Medicine of Southern Nevada — would be the culmination of her promise.

Twenty doctors have already told Jameson they will volunteer. A meeting she held to spread interest in the idea drew nearly 100 other medical professionals. Rod Davis, president of St. Rose Dominican hospitals, has committed his facilities to providing free diagnostics. Interest has also been expressed by the Hospital Corporation of America, which owns the four local Sunrise Health hospitals.

Jameson is providing a welcome and needed public service in working toward the opening of a free medical clinic based on a proven model.

We hope hundreds of medical professionals step forward and share in her promise.