Volunteer Physicians Network History

The Volunteer Physician Network (VPN) was first conceived and named the Specialty Physician Volunteer Network (SPVN) in 2001.  SPVN was developed to assist primary care providers who care for the underserved to access specialty care for their patients. A comprehensive, web-based system of specialty physician referrals was established so that specialists can specify the limits of what they will provide and how often.  This measure also showed a concrete way of providing improved access to quality care.  SPVN helped to consolidate and simplify the process of finding specialists willing to provide services at no cost to uninsured/financially disadvantaged patients. 

In 2004, Ada County was awarded a three year HCAP (Healthy Communities Access Project) grant by the US Department of Health Resources and Services Administration. Initially designed as a 3 year grant, this project’s goal was to strengthen the safety-net providers and the ability to meet the growing needs of the uninsured and underinsured. One of the strategic objectives of the goal was to establish a volunteer physicians network and Garden City Community Clinic was assigned the lead role in its development under this grant.

To this end, it was determined that SPVN participants would be available to serve three community clinics which were key players in the HCAP consortium: Garden City Community Clinic (GCCC), Family Medicine Residency of Idaho (FMRI) and Terry Reilly Health Services Boise (TRHS). Along with other partners including United Way of Treasure Valley, Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center, St. Luke’s Regional Medical Center, and Central District Health, the project started along, being first housed and administered at United Way offices and hosted on their server.

In 2006, it was announced that the HCAP grant funds were cut out of the federal budget and would end a year earlier than anticipated. This kicked development of SPVN into high gear and the network went officially “live” on June 1, 2006.

During the summer of 2006, the name was changed to Volunteer Physicians Network and a new website, logo and marketing materials were developed. Additionally, Ada County Medical Society came on board to help with recruitment of its member physicians.

The rapid growth and success of the project shows how groups working together can get more accomplished than just working alone – to the benefit of the entire community.